


The Way Home

by iammyownqueen



Series: Garrick Family Fluff [4]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Bart Cries a lot, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I just want them all to be happy, I love them all, Past Abuse, Past Slavery, Season 2, Slight AU but also not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:06:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21880087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iammyownqueen/pseuds/iammyownqueen
Summary: All Bart needed was a safe place to stay. Besides, he would be interrupting their lives. He was an intruder that was not supposed to be there. He understood that, and he wasn’t expecting anyone to restructure their lives on his account.He ended up being wrong. About everything.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Bart Allen, Barry Allen/Iris West, Bart Allen & Jay Garrick & Joan Garrick, Bart Allen & Wally West, Jay Garrick/Joan Garrick
Series: Garrick Family Fluff [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608235
Comments: 87
Kudos: 193





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was gonna wait to post this until after I finished the second chapter but I need constant validation and also I'm lazy. This is gonna be a longer fic spanning season 2 and after, focusing on Bart and the Garricks. Enjoy!

**February 28, 2016**

Seventy years was a long time to be married to the love of his life. Jay knew he was blessed to have lived such a happy life with his wife. Of course they had some regrets as a married couple, as well as hard times. That was the nature of marriage. The only thing that mattered was that they got through it together, and supported each other through everything. He couldn’t imagine a single day without his beautiful wife, and her beautiful smile.

They had lived more of their lives together than apart, and they knew how the rest of their lives would pan out. They would live peacefully together, without anything changing until they were both ready to leave this world. That was the plan. But, the world did not agree.

One of their biggest regrets as a married couple was that they were never able to have children. They tried, but it couldn't be helped. But now, after seventy years the universe had decided it was time to rectify that.

Bart had never really had a family before. He had no memories of his father, because he had died before he and his brother were even born. His mother raised him instead. She was the one to tell them stories late at night in the camps. They grew up with stories about their father, aunt, and grandparents. She told them especially about their grandfather, and the legacy they both carried because of him. It was through her that he learned everything he needed to know to complete his mission, though that was not her intention. She died when they were both young. He never saw a body. She just disappeared one day. It was a common occurrence in the camps. So, Bart and his brother took care of each other. And then, when his brother died, he took care of himself.

Having any family at all was unheard of, no one did. Knowing his story at all was a blessing, one that he did not take lightly. Still, there was a part of him that wanted to forget and be nothing more than the mindless slave that the Reach had made him. It would have made it easier. The darkness was so much more stifling once he had been exposed to the light. He would not make the same mistake again.

He had everything planned out in his mind. He was going to save his grandfather’s life and join the team. He didn't put much thought into where he would actually live. He figured he would just stay in the cave, and try his best to make sure it didn’t end up blowing up. He knew that his grandparents would be having two speedster children and would need all the space in their house to raise them. He knew that Wally was a struggling college student, and he certainly did not expect the elderly Garricks to provide him a place to live. He was okay with that. He didn't need their love. That wasn't part of the plan. All he needed was a safe place to stay. They could hate him for all he cared, as long as they didn't beat him he would be fine. Besides, he would be interrupting their lives. He was an intruder that was not supposed to be there. He understood that, and he wasn’t expecting anyone to restructure their lives on his account. 

He ended up being wrong. About everything.

  
  


Joan somehow knew the moment the excited speedster ran into their house that he would be staying. There were things about him that were just  _ off. _ The way he would say something and then backpedal, the way his shoulders were just a little too tense for a “family reunion,” the look in his eyes that was just a little too wild, too caged. Even the way he hugged them was an indicator. He hugged them around their arms, pinning them to their bodies, allowing him to hug but not to  _ be _ hugged in return. Something was wrong, and it screamed out to her. She just wanted to wrap him up in a blanket burrito and serve him hot cocoa until the tension melted from his shoulders and the wild look in his eyes softened into something else.

“You’re going, aren’t you?” Wally said. It was more a statement than a question.

“Doi” Bart replied, speeding out the door towards his grandfather.

As soon as he left, the remaining people in the room looked at each other and sighed.

“I’m… gonna make sure no one dies. And that he doesn’t totally screw up the timeline on accident,” Wally said, speeding off.

“I should leave too, my boss will be expecting me to be on the scene.” Iris said, grabbing her purse. “Happy Anniversary you two.”

Then she left, leaving the couple alone. Knowing that they wanted to be in the loop, they turned on the news. Despite the commotion on the screen, Joan could not stop thinking about Bart. She mulled over every action in her mind, analyzing everything. He misspoke too many times, he was too jumpy. There was another thing too. It was a fact that hung just out of reach in her mind. She almost thought she had imagined it. Something felt  _ off  _ when he hugged them both. She just couldn’t tell what.

She was lost in her thoughts, until Jay suddenly jumped up from the couch and ran to the bedroom, and then out the door. Not a minute later her husband showed up, in full uniform on the tv screen. She stared at the news in shock, her blood boiling momentarily. They had agreed years ago that he was retired. Once and for all. They kept the suit in the house as a memento of the good old days, under the mutual understanding that it would  _ never _ be used in the field again.

She un-clenched her teeth and stood up. She would deal with Jay later. In a way, this was a good thing. This was proof that he had been thinking about Bart as much as she had.

She was unsure if he had been thinking the same  _ thing _ about him. It was unlikely. They had both agreed years ago that they wouldn't. Fate had cursed them in that respect. They had been fine with that for many years.

But still, a part of her ached to be a mother again, and she convinced herself to ignore the other part of herself, the one that knew all too well the agony if it went south. Joan found herself standing in the spare bedroom, without deciding to be.

But her legs had decided for her, before her mind could get on the same page. No one had stayed in that room for many years, and a fine layer of dust had gathered over every surface. The sheets, although unused, had to be changed. It had been too long, they would be musty. That would not do.

She walked to the cleaning closet and moved to grab the dusting cloth and furniture polish, when she hesitated. It dawned oh her how silly she was being. She had no clue if Bart would be staying with them for any length of time. She hadn't even spoken to her husband about it, and they had agreed many years ago to  _ not _ do what she was planning on. After 70 years, she owed him that much.

She shook her head and grabbed the furniture polish. She could talk to Jay later, if it even became a fact that Bart was staying. Cleaning a room was not a lifetime commitment or a promise. It was just a dusty old room that had been left alone for far too long.

  
The kid was here for a reason, Wally had deduced that right away. No one just  _ builds  _ a time machine for a fun day out. No one in their right mind would  _ loan _ a time machine out either, not to anyone.  _ Especially not to little kids trying to play 'what was my family like way back when.' _ The kid's cries of "don't answer that!" and "let the league handle this one!" were not lost on Wally either. When he couldn't stop Barry from leaving, he went right beside him. Whatever he was here for, it was happening now. And Wally would be damned if he would let it happen without him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Decisions are made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than I thought it would, sorry guys. Also its kind of short because I originally was going to do one chapter, but I decided to split what I'm going to write into two chapters instead.

Bart had never seen so many colors in his life. Green grass and blue sky and white clouds and yellow sun. And the air. it smelled like something he could not recognize. His lungs stopped burning and it was suddenly easier to breath. Easier to run. Easier to laugh and smile and talk. And talk he did. He talked so much it felt like his tongue would fall out of his mouth. He talked and laughed and ran like he had been doing it his entire life.

And then there were the people. They were so alive. And so warm. He could feel the heat of their bodies when he hugged them. When he smiled they smiled back. When he talked they responded. They held their heads high without an ounce of shame. Without regret. It had been so long since he had seen human beings so undefeated. It was the start of a new day. A new life.

“What do we do now?” Wally asked. The time machine was still smoldering where it had landed. He would have loved to sneak a peek at the hardware inside. The scientist nerd in him wanted to study and interrogate the kid until he understood exactly the science behind it. Unfortunately, he had more pressing matters to attend to. Namely, the kid. Despite being stranded in a foreign time, he did not seem concerned, or angry, or scared at the prospect of never returning home. In fact, he seemed excited and just as happy as he had before.

“Now, we go home,” Jay said, putting his hand on the kids shoulder. Bart looked up at him and smiled.

Wally had known Jay for his entire life, but even he couldn’t understand the twinkle that existed in his eyes at that moment.

So the four speedsters had once again found themselves in the Garricks foyer, greeted by a very cross looking Joan.

“Jason Garrick, what were you thinking putting on that suit,” she said. Her tone was angry, but there was almost an edge of humor in it.

“I- Uh,” Jay stammered.

Her face split into a smile and she shook her head. “Go change,” she ordered.

Jay started towards the bedroom before she cleared her throat. He startled before doubling back to kiss her, then resumed on his way to change.

Joan turned to Bart and smiled, happy to see him again. Her instincts had been right on the nose. He was back, and he looked more comfortable than before. His shoulders had relaxed some, and while his eyes still had an edge to them, they were more tame.

“I take it you’ll be staying in this time?” Joan asked, trying to gauge his reaction to her statement.

He tensed some. “I- the time machine didn’t survive the trip.” He explained.

She smiled at him. He smiled back, but it was small, and a little forced. He looked more worn out than he had before. She wondered what time of day it had been when he left his time, and how many hours he had gone without sleep.

Jay walked out of the bedroom, now wearing his normal clothes. Barry took that as a sign to change into his civies too, creating a mini tornado in the room as he did so.

“Lucky,” Wally grumbled. His clothes were in his house in Palo Alto, he would have to take a zeta to change into civies. Still, it had been awhile since he had donned the suit, and it felt good to wear it again.

“You all make yourselves at home,” Joan said. “I need to talk to my husband in private for a few minutes.”

She smiled at Bart again before both Garricks went into the spare bedroom. Wally noticed that she had the same twinkle in her eyes when she looked at Bart as Jay had. Barry smiled, like he knew what it ment, but wouldn’t say.

They had agreed years ago that they wouldn’t. That it would be too hard to try again. He remembered how bad it had gotten after Noah died. Joan had taken it especially hard, going into a depression that had lasted for months. He never wanted to see her go through that type of pain again. Just thinking of it made him want to forget the idea all together. Even asking her to open up their home and their hearts to another child, one who could lead to even more heartbreak, felt like a sort of betrayal. He wasn’t sure how to start.

“I know,” he started slowly, his voice shaking with emotion, “that we agreed years ago that we wouldn’t.” He stopped there. He didn’t know what else to say. But he didn’t need to say anything else.

Joan cupped his cheek and Jay looked in her eyes. They were determined and absolute.

“He needs a home,” Joan said. Her voice was as steady as her eyes.

“Do you think we’re ready for this?” He asked, his voice growing softer. He touched her hand gingerly.

She didn’t answer with words, but closed the gap between them, pulling him into a tender kiss. Yes, she answered.

To Jay, she looked just as beautiful as she had on their wedding day. Even after all of this time, she was still his young, beautiful bride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure if I should post this yet or not, but here I am. Enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family secrets are shared

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter I've ever written, but its also a lot of dialogue so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Also, Wally may seem like kind of a jerk in this, but I promise its only his jealousy talking, he'll get nicer. I'm actually really proud of this chapter, not gonna lie.

Wally did not like the kid. Despite the fact that he had saved Barry’s life, something still didn’t sit right. Bart seemed too happy, too excited. Something bigger was going on, and Wally did not like it at all. The feeling in his gut had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the kid had immediately outstripped him with very little effort. He was retired, he still used his speed, but it wasn’t like he was running around the same way he used too. The rest of his family however, did not seem concerned in the slightest.

Barry smirked as the Garricks walked through the door hand in hand. He had known exactly what they were planning to do next.

“Bart,” Joan started. “How would you like to stay with us?”

“What?” Bart responded. He had been lost in his thoughts, admiring the house and the many wonderful things in it. It was truly beautiful, and cleaner than any house he had ever seen. He had seen houses in his time, even slept in a few, but it wasn’t the same. All of the houses were crumbled and decrepit, abandoned in time.

“Would you like to stay with us?” Jay repeated. “I know this place isn’t exactly your home, but we have a spare room, and there’s plenty of space.”

“Really?” Bart asked in disbelief. This was not a part of the plan. He had assumed that he would stay at the mountain, or some other place with the team. He certainly did not expect this. But how could he refuse? The chance to live in this beautiful house? With these people, who have already done so much to help him, despite being a stranger interrupting their wedding anniversary. He couldn’t believe it.

“Of course sweetie.” Joan replied.

He didn’t speak. He couldn’t. So he didn’t answer with words. Instead, he closed the gap between them in a tight hug, one he would let them return.  _ Yes, _ he answered.

In an instant, Joan realized what had bothered her before.

He was thin. Not like a speeder was thin. She  _ knew _ speedster thin. This was different. His frame was small to begin with, but she was begging to think it was not supposed to be that way naturally. His body was bony and sharp in her arms. She despite the padding in his suit, she could feel his ribs.

Despite her shock, she put on a brave face and smiled. “Why don’t we all get some food, and then we can give you a tour of the house?”

He smiled wide and nodded, still speechless.

“Before we do that- I mean, food first, but we should probably get him some clothes before we do much else.” Barry said.

Bart looked down at his suit and frowned. He hadn’t thought about clothes. In the camps, he would steal the clothes off of people who had died. He didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

“Wally, do you think you have any clothes that would fit him at your parents house?” Barry asked.

Wally tried to quell the jealous feeling in his stomach before answering with a smirk. “I’m an only child. I’m pretty sure they kept the first tissue I sneezed into.”

Barry laughed. “Why don’t we go pay them a visit?”

Bart moved to follow them before his grandfather stopped him. “You can stay here, we’ll be back in a flash,” he said with a wink. Then they both ran out, leaving the three of them alone to sigh and shake their heads at the pun.

Wally didn’t expect that at all. He loved the Garricks, but did they honestly think this through? It was true they had only met Bart, but taking in a child was no small task. Especially with their age now. Why did they decide to do this now? If they wanted kids, they had their entire marriage to figure that out. Why now? It seemed out of place, especially after 70 years of being just the two of them.

“HEyo!” Wally yelled, sliding into the living room of his childhood home. His mother let out a yelp, dropping her coffee, sending both the mug and the coffee inside towards the carpet. Luckily, Barry was right behind him, saving the mug from shattering, although, not the carpet from a large coffee stain.

“Wally!” His mother scowled.

“Whoops,” he muttered softly.

His father chuckled. “Good to see you son,” he said. He got up from the couch and hugged him, while Barry and his mother fussed about the coffee spill, in an effort to prevent it from becoming a stain.

His mom smiled and pulled him into a hug, happy to see him despite the chaos. “I assume you came here to do more than give me a jump scare?”

“Unfortunately, yes. You wouldn’t happen to have any clothes from when I was 13, would you?”

“Probably in the attic, why?” His father asked, confused.

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with the new hole in central city, would it?” Mary asked, frowning.

“Yes, yes it does,” Barry answered. “Actually, it has more to do with the new speeder who helped to prevent it from becoming an even bigger hole.”

“A new speedster?”

“My grandson, actually,” Barry answered, sheepish. “From the future.”

“Grandson?” Rudolph questioned. “But you an Iris?”

“Is she?” Mary asked with wide eyes.

Barry only nodded with a smile on his face. He hadn’t even had time to process it yet. He was going to be a  _ father, _ to not just one, but  _ two _ children. He had often wondered whether or not his children would inherit his speed, that question seemed to be answered today. He knew Iris probably wanted to keep it a secret at first, but with a time traveler in the mix, the secret was already out before he could blink.

“Congratulations! That’s Amazing!” Mary said, she got up and pulled him into a hug.

“Thanks,” he managed to speak through her hair.

“At any rate,” he continued, breaking off the hug,” We’re going to need to borrow some of Wally’s old clothes until we can make it to a mall. It looks like the kid is going to be staying with the Garricks, so we’ve at least figured that out, but he’s still going to need an entire wardrobe, among other things. We just need a few sets of clothes to tide us over until we can manage to get him everything that he needs. I’ll probably run and get him some essentials before-”

“Wait,” Mary interrupted. “He’s staying with the Garricks?”

She and her husband shared a confused and worried look.

“I know right?” Wally chipped in. It felt good that someone was as confused by this as he was. “It doesn’t seem like them. They’ve never wanted kids before now, and they’re suddenly taking him in? I mean, why now?”

Mary frowned and sighed. “No, Wally, you’re wrong.”

“Wally, those two have had a son before,” his father said.

Wally blinked in confusion. “What are you talking about?” He looked on their faces for any sign that this was a joke. But there were no smiles, no laughter.

“No, that's not possible. I’ve known them for my entire life, they’re like my grandparents. There’s _ no way _ they could have had children. I would  _ know _ .” This was insane. He would have  _ known _ . How could he not know? Was this some bizarre family secret? And why did everyone look so defeated all of a sudden?

Barry put his hand on his shoulder in an effort to calm him down. “Why don’t we all sit down?” He suggested.

“What happened to him?” He asked slowly. He watched their faces. No one seemed to want to talk about the secret he had stumbled into. “I mean, how could have not known about this?”

“It's not something they talk about Wally. Noah lived and died before any of us even met them.” Barry answered.

“If it's not something they talk about, then how do you all know about this? Why leave me out?”

“Because it was never something you needed to know. You were young, and sometimes young people can say things that can hurt people without meaning too. This is something they’re very sensitive about, it wasn’t something we wanted you to blurt out at the wrong time, or misunderstand,” his father said.

Wally could understand that, at least. He did have a history of using his mouth before his brain when it came to social situations. Still, something felt off about it. He was on the cusp of something deeply sad, and he wasn’t sure he wanted the pleasure of knowing what it was.

“What happened?” He was finally understanding the tone of the room. This was a tragedy, one that required a certain sense of respect. He tried to match the somber spirit of the room.

His mother spoke first. “Those two have always wanted kids, ever since they were newlyweds, but Joan wasn’t able to have kids. So they pulled what strings they could and adopted. Two weeks later, he died of pneumonia. It was just long enough for them to fall in love with him.”

No.  _ No. _ There was no way.  _ Two weeks? _ That was not enough time. That was almost no time at all. His throat tightened, his stomach felt like a rock.

“After that,” Barry continued in his mother's place. “They never wanted to go through anything like that again. They didn’t try to again, but it wasn’t because they didn’t want to have kids. They never stopped wanting kids, but they were never able to recover from that enough to pursue it.”

“How old was he?” Wally didn’t want to know, but he needed to.

There was a silence that crossed the room. It wasn’t the unwillingness to answer like before, it was uncertainty.

“I don’t know,” his father answered. “By looking at him, I’d say he was three or four, at most.”

“Looking at him?” But they had said that none of them had been there when he was alive, and it’s not like they kept pictures of him just lying around.

Sensing his confusion, his mother explained. “There are some photos of him, hidden away. That’s how we found out. We were all at a family dinner they were hosting when we decided to look at some of their old photo albums. When I stumbled across a picture of him, I asked who it was. Joan took one look at the photograph and started crying. Jay apologized and asked us to leave. He invited us back the next day to explain, but Joan wasn’t there. At that point, it had been decades since Noah died, but she was still so broken up about it. Jay is more comfortable talking about it, but even he didn’t say much. It's still a sore spot for them both. That's why we were both shocked that they had agreed to take,” She paused, not knowing his name.

“Bart.” Barry supplied.

“To take  _ Bart _ in.”

Barry smiled. “Actually, I saw this coming a mile away.”

Mary raised her eyebrows at him.

“I mean, not the grandson from the future bit, but I mean, come  _ on _ . A kid, not just any kid, but a  _ speedster kid _ just shows up on their  _ doorstep  _ on their 70th  _ wedding anniversary  _ in need of a home? You said it yourself, they never stopped wanting kids. It's too perfect to pass up.”

Rudolph smiled. “I guess when you put it that way.”

“We do still need those clothes though, the Garricks are probably wondering where we are.”

“Right, right.” Rudolph said, getting off the couch. The attic awaits.”

It only took a few minutes to find some clothes that looked like they would fit him. He was definitely smaller than Wally had been at that age, but the clothes would do for now. They managed to find three sets of clothes. It wasn’t much, but they would get him more when they had the chance.

He hugged his parents again before leaving.

“It was good to see you guys,” he said. It was true that he could run home whenever he felt like it. Well, running the whole way was a stretch, but he could zeta there whenever he felt like it. He’d just been so busy that he hadn’t seen them in several weeks, what with all of the papers and assignments that he had to do.

“You too Wally.” his mom said. “And don’t mention,” she didn’t finish her sentence, but she knew what he meant. Don’t mention Noah at all, to anyone. He would never do that to the Garricks, and as much as he didn’t like Bart, this had nothing to do with him.

He nodded.

“It was nice to see you two,” Barry said.

“You too,” Rudolph responded. “Congrats again.”

Barry smiled wide. “Thanks! Well, gotta run!” He laughed before rushing out the door, Wally following suit.

“We’re back!” Barry announced as he flashed through the door.

“Hey babe,” Iris said, leaning in for a kiss. She had returned from the scene of the explosion, and had been chatting with Bart and the Garricks, trying to sort out everything that happened.

“I’m starving,” he remarked.

“There is a stack of sandwiches in the kitchen, plus a few pizzas on the way.”

“I love you so much.”

“I know,” Iris said, smiling, kissing him once more.

“Eww, get a room,” Wally teased.

“Ha ha ha,” Barry said. “Don’t you have something to give to Bart?”

Wally rolled his eyes and flashed away.

This day had been unbelievable. Bart was having trouble wrapping his head around everything. First, it was the state of the world. The air, the nature, the houses,  _ the people _ . Then it was everything else. How clean everything was, how easy it was to smile,  _ the food _ . There was so  _ much _ , and what surprised him was how  _ easy _ it was to eat it all. He had never eaten that much food in his life, yet it felt  _ right _ . The more food he ate, the more energy he had, and the stronger he felt. Was this how he was supposed to feel?

While his grandfather and Wally were gone, the Garricks had made him a pile of sandwiches, with the expectation that he would eat them all. He did, although it felt strange to eat so much in one sitting, but it made them happy, so he did it with ease. After that, they showed him the house. It was so big, with so many rooms. Then they showed him  _ his _ room.  _ His.  _ The room  _ belonged to him. _ He had never owned anything before. Well, he owned the suit, and the time machine, technically. But he had never referred to them in such a way. People in his time didn’t own things. They didn’t even own themselves. They were simply forces to be acted upon.

“This is your room,” Joan said smiling. “It’s pretty bare bones for now, but we can fix that. It’s just a bed and a dresser, but they’re both yours. We can get you a desk and a bookshelf in here if you’d like.”

He was in awe. His hands pushed down on the plush bed, and found it to be incredibly soft. “Woah,” he said in disbelief.

“So, what do you think?” Jay asked.

“I- Its perfect,” Bart managed. “Thank you both so so much.”

“Of course sweetheart,” Joan smiled.

“Your welcome to stay here as long as you need to,” Jay said.

The rest of the day was just as overwhelming and wonderful as the beginning of it. He hadn’t realized how tired he was until he sat down on the couch. He had new clothes, courtesy of Wally, and his first hot shower. The experience was unreal, and unbelievably pleasant, despite the guilt. Using water in this way was an insane waste of water, and would have probably cost people their lives. Dehydration was a real problem in his time, he’d seen people collapse and not get back up because of it. Still, it felt nice.

He had to fight to keep his eyes open. He couldn’t fall asleep now. Not here. He needed to get someplace safe, he couldn’t let his guard down or-

_ Or what? _ He was safer at that moment than he had ever been in his entire life. He was surrounded by superheroes in a time before the Reach had complete control of the earth. Nothing would happen to him. For once in his life, he allowed himself to drift without a second thought. He could faintly hear the voices of his family, just beyond the wall of sleep that was overtaking him. Their voices seemed distant and quieter than they had been a second ago. He snuggled the blanket closer to his body, the voices fading quicker now.

A small corner of his mind erupted in panic.  _ He hadn’t had a blanket a second ago. Something was wrong. He needed to get up now. _ But the panic was ignored, as he gave into the blissful security of sleep.

For now, he was safe, and that was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Noah Garrick is actually cannon compliant to the comics, I'm just deepening his backstory a bit. All we know about him in the comics is A. Joan wasn't able to have kids, so they adopted and B. He died two weeks later of pneumonia. That's it. no name, no age, nothing. In the Jay Garrick Wiki it has him under related as Unnamed adopted son (deceased), so I thought this was better. Also, if you couldn't tell, at the end the Flash fam sees that he's asleep (or close to it) and start talking quieter, while Joan drapes a blanket around him. I wanted to include that in the chapter, but I couldn't find a place where it felt right.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bart enjoys a quiet night in the Garrick home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a reference to the Flash tv show in here, if anyone can find it ;) This chapter is mostly fluff and the Garricks getting to know Bart, and vice versa. Its only Jay, Joan, and Bart in this chapter, but I thought it was important to see them interact as an immediate family.

Bart wasn’t sure when exactly he woke up, he only knew that he was warm, and the air smelled sweet when he took a breath in. He could hear a soothing, repetitive, clicking noise, along with the soft drone of quiet voices. When he opened his eyes, he had no idea where he was. The thought should have made him panic, but instead he only felt peace. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and stretched the rest from his arms and legs as he slowly entered the waking world. He didn’t remember any time when he had woken up with such grace and peace.

“Enjoy your nap?” Joan said next to him. He jumped a little, not realising she was there. 

“Sorry,” she said, lowering her voice some. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Mm,” he responded, still trying to recover from sleep. “How long was I out?” He asked.

“Only a few hours,” she said. “The others left a little bit ago.”

“Oh, okay,” he responded. He took a moment to assess his surroundings. She smiled and turned her attention to the tv, the source of the voices he had noticed earlier. He was in the Garricks’ living room. Joan was next to him, although far enough away to give him a little space as he slept. When he looked at the other side of him, he saw Jay, reading a book in the armchair that was settled next to him. The clicking had stopped for a short time, but it resumed again. He noticed that Joan was using strands of cloth and sticks to do… something. But the clicking was pleasant, and she seemed peaceful and relaxed. Jay too, seemed relaxed. It was strange to see living human beings in such a state. It seemed too strange, too foreign to him. He became suddenly very aware that he was not supposed to be there, that he didn’t belong in their home, that he would never belong in a place as serene as this.

Joan somehow picked up on his discomfort. “Is everything alright sweetie?” She asked.

“I- yeah, I’m fine,” he lied.

“This is a big change sweetheart. It's okay to feel overwhelmed,” she reached out and patted his hand. “Just give it time, okay?”

“Okay,” he said lamely. He tried for a smile, but he wasn’t sure it had the effect he was hoping for. “So,” he tried weakly. “What do I do now?”

Joan could tell that there was a tension in his shoulders. He was so different than he had been before when they had first met. There, he had been so full of energy and so confident. Now, he seemed deflated, awkward, and tired. She couldn’t believe how much he looked like his grandfather with his body language. He even rubbed his neck in much the same way that Barry did when he something was bothering him.

“Well,” she said, putting down her knitting for a moment. “You could read, or watch tv, or even continue your nap if you’d like.”

“I’m afraid we’re very boring in this house,” Jay pitched in. There really wasn’t much a normal thirteen year old would be interested in. They didn’t have a video game console, or gaming computer, and they had very few tv channels. Both Jay and Joan had shows and tv channels that they liked, and they rarely deviated from those channels. As such, they don't see the need in getting anything besides a very basic cable package.

“No,” Bart said with confidence. “Boring is good,” he said with a smile.

Boring… was different. Boring was new. Bart had had very few boring days in his life. A boring day was treasured and rare. Boring days were when the guards in the camps left him alone in favor of another meat. Boring was when the testing and the tourture in the labs ceased for a time, allowing him to heal. Boring days were a gift. Boring days were safe. If it was true what Jay had said, that they were boring, then he was going to enjoy his time with them very much.

Jay let out a small chuckle. “Well I’m glad you feel that way,” he said, winking. Bart gave him a grin in response.

The pleasant clicking continued and Bart saw that Joan had gone back to doing whatever it was with the sticks and the strange material that he couldn’t name. While watching her, he realised that she was making a sort of cloth. His curiosity finally got the better of him.

“What are you doing?’ Bart asked.

“Haven’t you ever seen anyone knit before?”

He shook his head. He had never even heard the word before.

“Well,” she said. “It's a way of taking yarn and turning it into cloth.”

She watched as Bart continued watching her work with rapt interest.

“You can knit hats, scarves, sweaters, blankets, anything, really.”

He scooted closer to get a better look at her hands as she worked. Her hands moved with grace and speed. Every movement was smooth and added to the beauty of the work. 

“That’s so crash.” He said it in almost a whisper. Joan almost didn’t hear him.

She smiled, an idea popping into her head. “Would you like to learn?” She asked. 

He looked at her with disbelief. “Really?” He asked. “You’ll teach me?”

“Of course. Sweetie!” She had been racking her brain for hours over things to do to bond with him. Teaching him to knit was the perfect opportunity she had been looking for.

“I mean, are you sure? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He said shyly. Taking him into their home was enough. Spending time to teach him something new was something else entirely.

Jay laughed from the sidelines. “Kid, believe me, Joan would be delighted to teach you how to knit. It was only a matter of time before she offered, anyway.”

“Oh,” he said. “Okay!” His face brightened into a smile.

“Alright!” Joan said with flourish. “Let me just finish this row and I’ll teach you how to knit!”

In a few seconds, she was up and out of her chair. “We’ll just need to gather some supplies first.”

“Where are we going?” Bart asked.

Joan smiled. “The craft room. Do you remember where it is?”

He did remember the craft room, vaguely. He hadn’t completely understood its purpose, or what the word “craft” meant, but he supposed he would just have to learn.

It was a room filled with bins and drawers, none of it made any sense to him, but apparently made complete sense to Joan. As soon as she entered the room, she made a b-line for a specific box labeled “cotton yarn.” He lingered at the door, unsure of himself, but she gestured for him to enter the room, and so he did.

“Pick your favorite one,” Joan said with a smile.

“My favorite what?” He asked. She just giggled and motioned for him to open the box.

“Woah,” he gasped in awe as he opened the box.

Inside were balls of what he guessed to be cotton yarn. They were all different colors and sizes. Purples and blues and reds and every other color of the rainbow. He pawed through them, looking for the prettiest one he could find. 

_ But Joan should get the prettiest one, _ he thought to himself. But she had also told him to pick  _ his  _ favorite, so it would be okay if he chose the beautiful purple one, the one mixed with blues and different shades of purple. Purple was his favorite color.

She smiled once he had chosen his “cotton yarn” before turning to the box herself. She chose one with orange and white.

“Alright,” she said, replacing the lid and returning the box to its shelf. “Now we need knitting needles.”

“Needles?” He asked. He wasn’t sure what needles had to do with knitting, but his experiences with needles told him to avoid them at all costs.

“They’re what I was using before. They come in all different shapes and sizes, all for different types of projects. For your first few projects, you’ll be knitting dishcloths, so we’ll just need the standard knitting needles.”

He didn’t understand most of what she said, but he thought he got the general idea behind it. These needles were good, and completely different than the ones he had known before. She picked up a roll of cloth and unraveled it on a table. It was like a blanket, except smaller, and filled with pockets. Each pocket was filled with two of the needles she had been using before, all different colors and thicknesses.

“For that yarn, you’ll probably be better off using size 7 needles,” she said, taking out 2 sets of needles out of the case. Then, she rolled up the cloth and set it back in its place.

“Ready?” She asked. He still looked nervous and a little shy, but he seemed to be getting more comfortable around her. He nodded and sped to the living room.

“No running in the house!” She called after him.

Bart winced as Jay laughed. “Sorry!” He called back.

Joan made it to the living room a few seconds later, shaking her head at him but smiling all the same.

“Sit down,” she commanded, but there was still laughter in her voice. He did as he was told.

Learning how to knit was very different than learning anything else. He had learned other skills before, but it was different. Lessons were beaten into him, and all mistakes were punished severely. Doing well was impossible. He never did anything right. He never experienced pride for what he’d done. Learning from Joan was different.

She guided his hands with hers, and gave him reassuring words. Every correct move got a complement. Every wrong move… also got a complement, somehow.

It was strange, but strange in a good way. It made him smile. He was  _ good _ at something. He had never been good at anything before. Well, he was good at running, but that didn’t count. Running was something he was born with, it wasn’t something he had to learn or train with, he just  _ had _ it. Knitting was different. Knitting took effort to learn. It felt good to have a ball of  _ nothing _ in his hands and turn it into something new. It felt strange and new, and he loved every second of it.

The kid was from a bad place. That was made abundantly clear. Whenever Joan told him he was doing well, his face lit up with confusion first, and then pride.It was as if he had never been praised for anything before. The more she did, the more he lit up with happiness, the more his chest puffed out with pride.

The most disturbing however, was what he did when he made mistakes. When she corrected him for the first time, his entire body tensed. There was a deep fear in his eyes, and he seemed to hold his breath.

“It’s alright,” she said, trying to get him to calm down from this strange, panicked state. “You just stabbed the yarn. See how it's splitting? It’s an easy mistake to make, especially for a beginner. It's even easier to correct.”

She took his needles and showed him how to fix his mistake, and how to recognise it.

“You’re doing very well for your first time knitting. You’ll get better with practice, I know.

The look on his face when she said that was priceless, and also scared her very much. He was stricken with a look of absolute unbelief.

“You… really think I’m doing well?” His voice was rushed, as if he really wanted the answer, but didn’t want to ask the question.

“Of course sweetie!” She gave him her brightest smile. It was clear that he needed all of the praise and love he could possibly get. Not just with knitting, but in everyday life. “Everyone makes mistakes, that doesn’t mean that you’re not doing good, it just means that you need more practice!”

He smiled, a shy little smile. It was remarkable just how different he was from that energetic young boy she had seen earlier. He had calmed down dramatically. Insead of endless confidence, he seemed shy and unsure. Instead of energetic, he seemed tired, yet still full of life. Instead of an over exaggerated smile, he wore a small one, directed at only himself instead of the entire room.

They knit a little bit more together. She hadn’t lied in the slightest. He  _ was  _ doing very well, picking up the skill very quickly. Every once and while he would nudge her or speak up for her help. She happily obliged. They only stopped once Bart’s stomach let out an audible growel, and she noticed the time.

“Oh my!” she exclaimed. Somehow, two hours had passed without her noticing. “Why don’t I get you two something to eat, huh?” she gently rolled up her own washcloth, which she had started alongside Bart as an example.

“No honey,” Jay said, stopping her. “Why don’t you keep knitting with Bart? I’ll get us something to eat.”

“Are you sure?” She asked. “I don’t mind.” It wasn’t that Jay couldn’t cook or didn’t know his way around the kitchen. It was simply that she enjoyed cooking, and he enjoyed eating just as much.

“I think I can figure it out,” he chuckled. He kissed her as he went his way towards the kitchen. 

In a few minutes, Jay had two plates stacked with four grilled cheese sandwiches each.

“Did you want anything Joanie?” He asked.

She smiled at the sight. “No sweetie, I’m still full from dinner. Thank you, though.”

He had known that, of course, but always asked anyway. He was sweet that way.

He smiled back at her before handing a plate to Bart, who was watching it with wide eyes.

She put down her washcloth project, and picked up the scarf she had been knitting before. Bart smiled as he ate. Back was the goofy grin and excited demeanor. Despite all of the things different about him, he was still a speedster, and the way speedsters interacted with food was one constant in any universe or timeline.

There was so much  _ food _ here. He was surprised at how hungry he was. At the same time, it was a different kind of hunger. It wasn’t a sharp, stabbing kind of hunger anymore. It was a dull, aching kind of hunger that grew over time, but it was always there, creeping up on him as it always had, except it was not an issue here. In the future, it was one of his biggest problems, his biggest threats. Food and water were hard to come by. Here they were everywhere. It was strange to see one of his greatest struggles vanish into dust like that. In the future, he would find a way to make four sandwiches last for days. Now, he was eating all of them in one sitting, after eating an entire pizza only a few hours before. In his mind, it felt so wrong, but his body begged him for it. So he indulged, despite his initial discomfort. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was  _ wrong _ . It seemed many things would strike him as wrong at first. It was just another thing he would have to get used to.

After eating, Jay insisted Bart helped him clean up the kitchen. There wasn’t much to wash, only two plates, a pan, and a spatula. Jay could have done it all himself easily, but he wanted to talk to Bart alone. He had figured out that Bart was easier to talk to one on one. He seemed to let his guard down when he was around less people. He had noticed it first when Wally and Barry left to get clothes. Then he noticed his guard go up again as people returned to the house. Finally, he saw it a third time now when it became the three of them again. Plus, if he was going to live with them, he would be helping out with things like dishes soon anyway. So, Jay handed him a dish towel and showed him how to dry dishes. It was quiet for a moment as Bart did what he was told. Bart was drying the final item, the spatula, when Jay finally got up the courage to speak.

“Bart?”

“Hm?” He responded.

Jay wasn’t sure how to say it at first. “I saw earlier, a few times actually, how afraid you got.”

Bart’s gaze seemed to be fixed on the socks that Barry had gotten him earlier in the day. His shoulders tensed.

“I know that this isn’t where you expected to be. I know we’re strangers to you, and that's scary. I can’t imagine being in your position right now. But I need you to know that you don’t have to be afraid of anything while you’re in this house. Not me, not Joan, not anything. I promise. This is your home now, if you want it to be”

Bart stared at him with misty eyes before hugging him at super speed. Jay, being a speedster himself, reacted in equal time.

“Hey,” Jay whispered into him. “It’s okay son. I got you.”

He took a deep breath as Jay hugged him close. Despite his unfamiliarity, he had a strong, fatherly presence that was very comforting to him.

It had been an extremely long day. He had left the safe, familiar terror of the apocalypse in favor of the hazardous, exposed terror of the unknown. He had risked everything, left everything. This was a new type of fear.

But here, in Jay’s arms, and in the safe, warm home they had built over the seventy years of their marriage, Bart knew one thing. He would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are FINALLY moving past February 28. This one day has had 4 chapters alone omg. I promise, all of the other days will not have nearly this much time attached. The knitting scene is highkey because I myself am an obsessive knitter, so its accurate in knitting terms. Comment if you liked it!
> 
> *The Flash reference was from a flashback in 2x01, when Joe comforts a young Barry


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bart goes shopping. It goes okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am dead tired and this chapter was super hard to write for some reason, but I also really wanted to post it tonight. Enjoy my lovelies.

**February 29, 2016**

Bart woke with a start in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar world.

“Bart? Sweetie?” Joan said, looking concerned. She had tried to stir him gently, so he wouldn’t be started, but it hadn’t worked. “It's time to get up. Barry and Wally will be here soon”

_ Right,  _ He thought to himself. His grandfather and Wally had made plans to take him shopping for all of the things he still needed. He liked his grandfather and Wally both, but he was not looking forward to this trip at all. The idea of  _ owning _ things was strange to him. No one owned anything where he came from, and the idea of owning many things made him uncomfortable, as well as greedy and selfish.

“I have breakfast ready, whenever you’re ready for it.” Joan said, lingering at the door before leaving and closing the door behind her.

Another thing that was strange, the idea of multiple meals in a day. And sleeping in a bed. And changing clothes when you wake up. And having a brush for your teeth, and a brush for your hair and- the list went on and on as he went through the morning.

And toilet paper, and toilets, and running water, and showers, and  _ lights _ and  _ mirrors _ .

It wouldn’t stop. Everything was strange, everything was new, and everything made him uncomfortable. He hid it all with a grin and boundless energy by tapping his foot, acting excited, and talking almost too much to breath.

“Well,” Jay remarked with a joking smile. “Someone’s happy today.”

That made Bart angry. He was not happy, not at all. He was scared and confused, and he didn’t belong here. He wanted to scream or cry. He wanted the Garricks to see that, to help somehow, but he also couldn’t manage to slow down or make his face do anything more than a big, wide grin.

“Yep!” He grinned, cringing at himself.

Before the conversation could continue, he heard a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it!” He said with flourish before racing away.

“No running in the house!” Joan chastised, but it was too late.

Bart flung the door open and saw that it was his cousin.

“Wally!” He said with an excited grin. He rushed to hug him at super speed. Although Wally seemed to cringe at his actions, he allowed it anyway.

“Hey kid,” he said with a cocky smile. For some reason he had warmed up to Bart after leaving to get clothes. “Is that bacon I smell?”

_ What’s bacon? _ Bart thought, but Wally let himself in, unaware of his thoughts.

“Good morning Wally,” Joan greeted him with a hug. “Help yourself,” she said, gesturing to the table full of food. “There’s plenty”

“Thanks,” he said, helping himself to the long strips of meat Bart had been eating with his eggs.  _ Bacon _ he figured.

“I made a list of things Bart might need,” he said with a mouth full of food. He handed a folded piece of paper to Jay, who sat across from him.

Jay took it and read it. It was very thorough, even including things Bart  _ didn’t  _ need, but might like anyway, such as posters or a calendar. It was clear that he had put a lot of effort into the list. His attitude toward the kid had also changed slightly. Yesterday he had been annoyed and distrusting of Bart. Now, he seemed friendlier, even chatting with him about their imminent trip.

“This looks good, Wally,” Jay answered. “I think that about covers it,” he said, handing back the list.

“Thanks!” He answered. He smiled at him, but there was a note of sadness in his face.

“Ready to go Imp?” Wally asked.

“Aren’t we waiting for Gramps?” Bart asked.

“Nope, he’s driving to the mall, we’re meeting him there.”

“Why?” Bart asked, still confused.

“Well, we're not gonna run all of your stuff home. He borrowed Iris’s car for the day so that we could bring everything home. Ya know, without scattering it all over Central City”

“Oh okay,” he still didn’t get it, but it didn’t really matter. He was looking forward to running with his grandfather again, but he supposed that there would be more time for that later.

“He’s probably gonna need to borrow some shoes before he runs to the mall with you,” Jay mentioned.

“Got you covered,” Wally said, holding up a pair of well worn sneakers. “I found these in an old closet. They might not fit exactly, but we can go to the shoe store first to get some that do.”

“Crash!” he said with a smile. He actually meant it too. Worn out sneakers were normal and familiar to him. He knew they would be replaced almost immediately, but to have something normal for just a little while felt nice.

Wally was definitely trying very hard to be nicer to Bart. Jay wasn’t sure exactly what had changed, but then he saw the look in his eyes. He looked at Joan, when he thought no one was paying attention. They looked sad, and it clicked into place.

_ He knew about Noah. _

Wally was not going to let Bart become another Noah. He couldn’t let the Garricks suffer like that again. He wouldn’t let Bart suffer like that. He still didn’t trust Bart completely, but that didn’t matter. He was family, whether he liked it or not.

“Remember,” Wally said before they left the house. “No superspeed when we’re out in public.”

“Crash,” Bart nodded with determination.

“And maybe say cool instead of crash in front of other people?”

“I- okay. Cool. cool cool cool cool,” he said, trying to get a feel for the word on his tongue.

Wally rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything.

“Have fun you two,” Joan said with a smile on her face.

“I’ll try,” Wally said with a smirk.

Bart hugged both Garricks in quick succession before heading out the door.

“Be back soon!” He said, hardly pausing in his speech enough to be understood.

Bart enjoyed the feeling of running again. Since he had freed himself the Reach, he could feel the Speedforce in his body. It beat against his body, in his blood, in his bones. It beat in every cell of his body, urging him,  _ begging  _ him to run. Every cell cracked with electricity, which cascaded behind him in a steady current of lighting as he ran. He could run faster. He could  _ feel _ it in his body, but he had to follow Wally. So, he nestled himself in a steady pace in the wake of Wally’s lighting. He could feel his electricity, he could almost taste it as he followed closely behind. Too soon, the run ended and Wally slid to a stop.

Bart tried to slide as Wally had, but in doing so he tripped and almost plowed into Wally.

“Woah,” Wally said, catching him by the shoulders.

“Thanks,” Bart said, righting himself.

“And  _ that  _ is why we need to get you some decent shoes.”

Bart grinned, still high on the energy that using his powers had given him.

“Crash- I mean cool,” he said, rushed.

Wally just smirked and nudged him with his arm.

“Come on, Barry’s expecting us.”

Wally moved at a walking pace and Bart fell in beside him. For the first time, he took notice of his surroundings.

_ There were so many cars. _

_ So many people. _

_ So many shopping bags. _

_ So much stuff. _

And the people themselves? They were  _ big _ . They reminded him of bodies that had to be fished out of water in his time, big and bloated. Granted, others were thinner, but none were as skinny as him. No one was as thin. No one would be.

He hadn’t noticed he had fallen behind until Wally turned back.

“Are you alright?” he asked. “You’re pale, did you eat enough before running this morning?” He looked concerned.

He mentally shook the shock from his system and tried to return to his over eager persona.

“Yep!” He said cheerfully. “I’m cra- fine. I’m fine,” he said with a grin.

Wally squinted at him in suspicion. “Still,” he said, fishing a calorie bar from his pocket. “Better safe than sorry.”

Bart was hungry, but he always was. He always had been. He always would be. In a way, it was comforting. It was constant, normal. He took the calorie bar and munched on it, both to satisfy his own hunger and Wally’s concern for his well being.

Wally took out his phone, seeing a text from Uncle Barry.

_ In the Shoe Department  _ it read.

Wally had texted him earlier to suggest that it should be their first stop, and he had agreed.

_ At the mall now,  _ he texted back.  _ Heading that way _

“Better?” Wally asked.

“Cr- cool.”

“Alright, lets go, Barry’s in the shoe department now.”

“How do you know that?” Bart asked.

Wally waved his phone at Bart. “The wondrous world of instant messaging.”

“Cr-cool,” Bart said. He looked at the borrowed shoes and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Come on, Barry’s waiting.”

They made their way into the mall, and Bart felt the sense of dread grow in his system. There were so many people, and so  _ loud.  _ Conversations came from everywhere assaulting his ears. Smells, although appetizing, also assaulted him. It was too much. It was too much.

He decided that the only way he would ever get through the day was if he focused on Wally, and not on his surroundings. So he talked. A lot. The funny thing was, he talked about nothing at all.

Wally interrupted him several times to comment, but it wasn’t really a conversation. Bart was talking  _ at  _ him, not with him. Finally, they reached the shoe department, and his distraction had to cease.

They found Barry on a bench outside the store.

“How was the way here?” He asked.

“Cool.” Bart said.

_ Yes! _ He thought.  _ First try!  _

“Cool?” Barry asked.

“Did I not use that right?” He asked. “This new slang is so retro, how do you keep track of it?”

His grandfather laughed. “Yes, you used it right,” he said. “I was expecting you to say crash, honestly.”

Bart rubbed his neck. “Wally said I shouldn’t say crash in front of other people.”

“I figured it would be easier to blend in that way,” Wally shrugged.

“Smart,” Barry said.

Once inside the store, they made their way toward sneakers.

“Do you know what size shoe you are?” Barry asked.

There was a number inside his old shoes, the tread had been well worn, and the number was barely visible, but he figured it had to mean something. A size maybe?

He repeated the number to his grandfather, who seemed satisfied with his answer. He took a box off the shelf and took out two shoes. They looked so  _ clean. _ So  _ unscathed _ . He’d never seen anything like it. They had plastic and paper inside them, which Gramps removed. He offered the shoes to him.

“Try them on,” he said. Bart nodded, taking off the old shoes Wally had gotten him. He didn’t want new shoes. He wanted his old shoes, the ones that he had left in his time. But when had the world ever cared what he wanted. The world was never kind to him. Had it only taken a day for him to forget that?

He slipped them on and found them to be tight, but okay.

“These seem fine.” He said.

“Hmm,” Gramps pressed down on the edge of the toe, where his toes were pressed up against the wall of the shoe. “They seem a bit small. Plus, my feet stopped growing when I was around sixteen, so it’s likely that yours will still be growing as well. You should probably go a size up. It’ll give you a little more wiggle room.”

“These ones are a size up, and they’re the same style.” Wally supplied another box, again taking out the paper and plastic also found in the box.

“Here, try these ones.”

He did, and they had more room than before.

“How do they feel?”

“Better,” he said honestly.

Gramps again touched the toe of the sneaker. “They seem to fit better,” he commented. “Try walking in them.”

He did, and it felt good, but they also felt a little stiff. He mentioned this to Wally and Gramps.

“Well, they are brand new,” Gramps said.

“Trust me,” Wally said. “You’ll have no problem breaking them in.”

“In fact, you may end up wearing them out rather quickly. It might be best if we got two pairs, just to be safe.”

Bart didn’t want two pairs of new shoes. He didn’t even want one new pair. Although, he would admit, the shoes fit nicely. His feet often bled in the shoes he had in his time, although he had always assumed it to be due to the long hours and terrible working conditions. Perhaps it was also due to having improper footwear. Wally’s shoes too, did not fit him well. They had the opposite problem of having too much room, and his feet slid around. It was difficult to walk without tripping over himself.

He supposed a new pair of shoes wouldn’t hurt, but he doubted he could talk them out of getting two.

“Here’s another that's the same kind and size,” Wally said, holding up another identical box.

“Perfect, I’m gonna go check us out. You should be able to wear them out of the store as long as they can scan the box they came from” He took both boxes and walked towards the checkout area.

“Well that's one item off of our list.” Wally brought out the list he had written earlier, crossing something off of it with a pen.. “We should probably get you some new clothes next.”

“Okay,” he said. He tried to be cheery, tried to be happy and goofy and all of the things that felt  _ wrong _ , but there was a lump forming in his throat and a sinking in his stomach.

“You alright?” Wally asked.

Thankfully, Gramps returned before he could come up with a suitable lie.

“We’re all set!” He said with enthusiasm. “Where to next?”

“There’s a clothing shop a few stores down that looked promising,” Wally supplied.

“Clothes it is,” Gramps said.

As they walked to the clothing store, Bart regained his focus and began his enthusiastic chatting once more. He was surprised at how easy it was becoming.

If the shoe store had been overwhelming, the clothing store was almost unbearable. Looking back on it, he honestly did not remember most of it. The shoe store had shelves and shelves of white boxes. He could almost imagine that nothing was inside of them, could block out how neat and new and  _ strange _ everything was with those facts alone. But here?

There were so many shirts, and pants, and belts and- and if he focused on everything, he would start panicking for sure. He could already feel his heart beating faster in his chest. So he talked. He talked, and talked, and talked, hardly focusing on what was happening around him. His family picked clothing for him to try, and he tried them on without much comment on the clothes themselves. He would walk out of the changing room and listen to any comments of questions that Barry and Wally had for him.

He was so overwhelmed that his Grandfather had to remind him that he couldn’t use his speed in public, because he had been talking so fast he was afraid he would tap into the Speedforce without realizing it.

When they were at the food court, his panic spiked again and he needed another reminder.

“Kid,” Barry put both of his hands on Bart’s shoulders, stopping his fast-paced rambling cold. “I know you’re excited, but you need to calm down,” he said slowly. Except when he looked into Bart’s eyes, he didn’t see a shred of excitement. Instead he saw fear in its place.

Had he somehow done that? Had he made Bart afraid?

“Are you okay?” He asked suddenly.

“Cra- good,” Bart corrected himself. “I’m good,” he said, his smile wide.

Something was still off. Though he smiled and talked as fast as ever, there was still fear in his eyes. Was it a new fear, or had it always been there? Barry was so focused on his rambling and happy demeanor that he had missed the true cause of it.

The more stores they hit, the more Bart seemed to talk. It was becoming more and more apparent that his talking was in fact, a way to mask his fear. The more he talked, the more high strung he seemed to get.

Barry wanted to help, to calm him down somehow, but no matter what he did Bart didn’t seem to relax. The only time he came close was when they came upon a pair of black fingerless gloves. When Bart saw them, he let out a tiny gasp of disbelief and picked them up gingerly, feeling the material between his fingers.

“Want those?” Barry asked hopefully.

Bart  _ did _ want them, but he had taken so much already. They reminded him of the gloves he had scavenged in his time. They had helped with the cold, and made labor easier. He regretted not bringing them along. At the same time, he didn’t  _ need _ them anymore. It was pointless to get these as a replacement for them. He wouldn’t be working with machines like before, and it was always warm in buildings and houses.

But Gramps was still looking at him with concern and a weird amount of hope. He doubted he could brush it off completely.

“They remind me of a pair I had back in my time,” he finally admitted in a small voice.

Gramps just smiled, and bought them without question.

  
  


They arrived back at the Garrick house, their arms overflowing with big plastic bags.

“We’re back!” Bart said, flinging the door of the house open with flourish. He was met with the smell of food and Joan, wearing a red apron.

“Welcome back you three!” Joan said.

Bart set his bags down and rushed to hug her.

“Where’s Jay?” he asked. He had wanted to hug him too, but he didn’t seem to be in the room with Joan.

She smiled and shook her head as the sound of wood clanking together rang through the house. Bart wasn’t sure, but it seemed to be coming from the spare bedroom.

“Jay found an old bookshelf in the basement. He’s been trying to set it up in your room for awhile now, but he wont let me help.” She laughed as the clanking continued. “He really can be so bull headed sometimes.”

_ A bookshelf? _ Bart had already gotten so many things today, he really didn’t need so much. It made him feel guilty that Jay had gone through so much trouble for him.

“I thought I heard voices,” Jay said, appearing in the foyer with them.

Bart rushed to hug him.

“Hey buddy,” Jay said. “How was today?”

“Super crash!” Bart answered.

Jay ruffled his hair. “Good,” he said simply.

The surprising thing was, he wasn’t lying. It had been overwhelming, but it was also fun to spend time talking and joking with Gramps and Wally.

“A bookshelf, huh?” Barry asked.

“Yep. I figured it would be good for storage space. At least in his room it can be used, instead of gathering dust in the basement. I also found a few boxes of books too, I’m not sure why those are in the basement at all, but we can go through them and see if there’s anything neat hidden away.”

“Crash, thank you,” Bart responded. He was beyond grateful for everything that they had given to him. He wasn’t sure he could ever repay the favor.

“You’re welcome, although I could use some help putting it back together, I had to disassemble it to bring it up the stairs. Would you mind, Wally?”

“Oh, yeah, no problem.”

Wally put the bags down and followed Jay. He was surprised though, when Jay closed the door behind him. He was even more surprised to see that the bookshelf was almost completely set up. The only thing that he had left to do was to set the shelves on pegs that had already been screwed into the frame itself.

“You don’t need my help, do you?” Wally asked bluntly.

“Not really, no,” Jay said, picking up a shelf and placing it on the pegs.

Wally picked up another shelf and held it out to him. Jay was clearly wanting to talk to him about something, but he wasn’t saying it outright. He also wanted to talk about it in private, which was strange. Jay was a relatively quiet man who valued his privacy, but he hardly had many secrets. Aside from having superspeed and being the first Flash, that is.

Jay took the shelf from him, but didn’t move to put it up. Wally was surprised at the somber look on his face.

“They told you about Noah, didn’t they?”

Wally was surprised. How had he known? His parents and uncle had made it clear, no one was to say anything.

“I-I’m sorry if you didn’t want me to know, I-”

Jay stopped him with a wave of his hand, holding the shelf with the other.

“It’s alright that they told you Wally. It’s not a secret.” Then he frowned. “Well, I suppose it is a secret, but only because it's not something we talk about.” He moved to put the shelf up. “Joan took it especially hard, which is why,” he waved his hand around the room.

_ Which is why the secret meeting. _

Wally nodded and held up another board. “Still, I know you don’t like to be reminded of it.”

Jay shook his head. “Yesterday was a pretty big reminder, no matter what we did. Besides, you’re like a grandson to me. You would have found out eventually. I’m a little surprised you didn’t already.”

Wally chuckled despite the somber tone of the room. “How would I?”

Jay shrugged. “True enough.” There was a pause as they put up another shelf. “Did you have any questions about it while we’re here? I know Barry and your parents don’t know much as is.”

“I do have one question.” Jay raised his eyebrows in waiting. “Where is he buried? Or I guess if he was cremated-” He stopped talking, not wanting to be insensitive. 

Jay smiled. He should have figured Wally would ask something like that. He could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. A soft plan was forming in his thoughts.

“Peak point cemetery,” he said softly

“Okay,” Wally said. Determination was lit in his eyes. He had a plan.

Jay put up the final shelf.

“Be careful Wally,” Jay said. His eyes were somber again. “With Joan, but especially with Bart. We don’t want him to know. Not yet, maybe not ever.”

“I know Jay,” he said softly, embracing Jay in a hug.

“Ready?” Jay asked when they separated.

Wally nodded, opening the door.

“All set up!” Jay announced with a smile once he had reached the living room. There was no trace of the conversation they had just had in his demeanor.

“Crash,” said Bart, walking into his room to see. Everyone followed him in to see. Instead of the empty space from before, there was now a bookshelf standing tall against one wall.

Wally noticed how clean the room was. True, he had only been there one night, but it was still eerie to see. The bed had been perfectly made, and two sets of clothes laid perfectly folded on top of the dresser, one pair of pajamas, a pair of pants, and a shirt. He recognized the shirt as the one he had changed into the previous day to get out of the suit. It was strange. Most teenage boys didn’t make their beds, or fold clothing. They certainly didn’t fold clothing that was already dirty anyway. The room also lacked any sort of personality. There wasn’t a poster or photograph in sight. The light blue walls were completely bare of anything. It was just an empty room. He was sure that once Bart had a chance to settle in, the room would be filled. He would have a better place to put his dirty clothing than on the top of his dresser, at the very least.

His family had helped him carry all of the bags into the spare room, and then left him alone to get situated.

Bags filled with  _ his _ stuff.

Things that belonged to  _ him.  _ Him and no one else.

The idea of  _ owning _ so much stuff was invigorating. At the same time, it felt so, so  _ wrong. _

The whole day he had felt overwhelmed with every new thing he had seen and experienced. People weren’t meant to  _ own _ things, they were meant to  _ be _ owned. He knew that fact was wrong, that human beings were meant to be free, that  _ he _ was meant to be free. It still felt wrong, no matter what he thought.

He longed for something familiar, for something  _ normal. _

Did-did he actually  _ miss _ his time?

Was that even possible? With everything that the Reach had done to him, with everything they had destroyed?

Had he forgotten why he was there so quickly? Was that all that it took? A bit of kindness that he could hardly accept and a few solid meals?

He didn’t belong here, he would never belong here. These people didn’t understand, they would never understand. If they got to know him,  _ really _ know him, they would not accept him. They would not accept the things that he had done. He wasn’t like them. He didn’t understand how they could accept things so easily, how they could have so much stuff, so many possessions, and talk about getting more so  _ casually. _

He found himself sitting on the floor before his dresser. He wasn’t sure when he had put on his finger less gloves, but he found himself wearing them anyway.

There was a knock on his door and he jumped. “Come in,” he said shakily. He wasn’t sure why he said that.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” Gramps said, letting himself in. “Whenever you- Are you alright?” he asked suddenly, softening his voice. 

He hadn’t realized that he had been crying until that moment.

“Oh,” he said, rapidly wiping the tears from his face. “Yeah, I-I’m crash.”

Gramps looked at him in concern, before sitting down next to him on the floor.

“It’s okay if you’re not,” he said softly. “Everyone will understand.”

Bart didn’t say anything.

“Bart, this is a big change for everyone, but for you most of all. It’s okay if you're overwhelmed. It’s alright if you’re not happy all of the time. You don’t need to be happy about this if you’re not.”

There was another pause before Bart finally spoke.

“Thank you,” he said softly. “For everything.”

“You’re very welcome,” Gramps said. He put his hand on Bart’s shoulder. “Whenever you’re ready,” he said.

Then he left, leaving Bart alone.

For the second time in two days, he ate dinner with the Garricks, his Grandparents, and Wally. Barry had picked up Iris from her work shortly after they had arrived.

He was still overwhelmed. Knitting with Joan helped. The slow, repetitive moves helped to calm his nerves and organize his thoughts.

Still, he wanted something _ normal.  _ But normal was bad. Normal was terrible and hard and  _ painful  _ and  _ why did he need it. _

The room he was staying in was more furnished than before. There was a laundry hamper in the corner where he would keep clothes after he had worn them.

Because here, you wear clothes once, and then wash them. Joan had promised to teach him how to do his own laundry soon.

Looking at the bed pushed by the wall, he couldn’t bear to sleep in it.

Not now.

Not after the day he had had.

He couldn’t bear one more thing that was foreign. He couldn’t bear the thought of the plush mattress and comfy pillow underneath him. In his time, he would always just sleep on the ground. He didn’t have a choice in the matter. He had often wished he had something more comfortable to lie on, but now he  _ longed _ for the hard surface of solid dirt. He didn’t mind the bed last night, when he was still high off the success of  _ traveling through time _ , but today was different. 

He thought back to what his grandfather had said earlier in the day.  _ This is a big change, it’s okay if you’re overwhelmed. _

He wished he could just sleep on the floor. That would make everything easier.

...Nothing was stopping him from sleeping on the floor. It was weird, he knew, especially by the standards of the time.  _ But nothing was stopping him. _ It was such a simple solution, and he kicked himself for not finding it sooner

It had been a very long day, and Bart was tired. He took the pillow from off the bed because even in his time, he’d use his jacket to cradle his head at night. Slowly, he laid down on the floor next to his bed and sighed because it was  _ normal _ . It was  _ normal _ , and it wasn’t good or bad. It was just normal, and that was okay.

He drifted off to sleep, more comfortable than he had been all day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading my funky little readers. Also, if any of you guys have any suggestions for bonding moments for any of the flash fam, especially Bart and Wally, I may include it in this fic.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bart goes for a run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys this took longer than usual mostly because I got distracted by writing other fics whoops

**March 1, 2016**

Bart woke up alone, at about 2 AM. The house was silent. He knew, of course, that the Garricks were just in the other room. That they hadn’t left him. That he wasn’t alone. Still, the silence scared him. It wasn’t just silence, either. It was stillness. Since he’d been there, the house was always full of life. Even if they were just sitting on the couch and knitting, there was a light about them, it was so  _ alive _ .

It was so still and quiet, and he felt cold dread settle into his bones. He didn’t want to be alone again. He  _ couldn’t. _

Except he wasn’t alone. The Garricks were in the next room. He  _ knew _ they were in the next room. He was sure of it. This was their home, where else would they be?

But it was so still. So quiet. So  _ dead. _ And he knew. He knew, knew,  _ knew, _ that they hadn’t gone anywhere, that they were just down the hall. But the fear gripped his mind anyway. He didn’t want to be alone again. Never again. But, he wasn’t alone. He wasn’t, he wasn’t, he  _ wasn’t. _ But… a reminder couldn’t hurt.

Against his better judgement, he crept out of his room. This was a bad idea. They were  _ sleeping _ , like he should be, and he would be disturbing them. Still, he couldn’t help himself. The door was open already, and he peeked inside. He saw two sleeping forms in the bed, and let out a sigh of relief. He was  _ not _ alone. They were safe and sound, sleeping in their bed. Sleeping, like he should be.

He crept back into the guest room and curled up on the floor, where he slept through the remainder of the night.

He woke up gently to the smell of food. The window let in sunshine, bathing the entire room in a golden glow. He surveyed the room, and found himself alone. It didn’t bother him as much as it had at 2 AM. He could hear Jay and Joan moving around and chatting through the walls. He stood up and stretched, feeling his joints and spine pop. He took a deep breath and yawned before waking out of his room to greet the Garricks.

“Good morning, sweetie!” Joan said with a smile.

“Morning, how’d you sleep?” Jay asked.

She and Jay were both sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of dark liquid each. Joan also had a small plate by her cup with toast and jam, while Jay had a plate full of… round bread?

“Good, I think,” Bart responded. “Good morning!” He hugged both of them in greeting.

“Pancakes?” Joan asked, pushing a plate filled with the round bread towards him.

“You’ve never had pancakes like Joan’s before, trust me. They’re the best anywhere,” Jay said, sending a wink in his direction.

“I’ve actually never had pancakes before,” Bart admitted shyly.

“Really?” they both said in disbelief.

“I guess they went out of style or something,” he lied quickly, rubbing his neck.

Jay saw through his lie in an instant. Pancakes had been around since ancient times. There was no way that they would ever just “go out of style.” Something else was going on. He made eye contact with Joan and knew that she felt the same way.

“Well,” Jay said. “If this is your first time trying pancakes,” he grabbed the syrup, “then we’re gonna do it right.” He smiled and smothered syrup all over his plate of flapjacks, then handed the bottle to Bart.

Bart gave a face of total confusion, but copied Jay anyway. Jay showed him how to cut the pancakes the way he did, before taking a bite himself.

Bart stabbed a piece of pancake before shoveling it in his mouth in true speedster fashion. Less than a second later, his face lit up with pure joy.

Joan laughed at the reaction. It was one of toddler-esque joy, and it warmed her heart. It also made her ache inside a little bit too. She remembered Noah having the same reaction. Although they hadn’t been together long, she made it a point to make him pancakes on the first morning they’d spent together.

_ What was she thinking? _ She couldn’t take in Bart. They hadn’t talked about him joining the team yet, but they all knew that it was exactly where he belonged. If he got hurt or died in the field, she would never forgive herself. How could she take him in, knowing from personal experience how this life tore at you? She couldn’t go through that again, she  _ wouldn’t. _

And then she mentally smacked herself. Yes, the life was hard. She had seen her husband get hurt and  _ worse, _ but she also knew that he would not have survived without her. Bart  _ needed _ them. He needed her. Needed her to get her head in the game and be everything that he needed her to be. Right now, what he needed her to be was a mother. If he had never even tried  _ pancakes _ before now, what else had he never tried?

She had begun to gather a list of things in her mind that were  _ not right _ when it came to Bart. She knew Jay had been doing the same thing. They didn’t know Bart, or what had led him to do something as  _ drastic _ as time travel, but she knew his life before now must have been bad.

_ Bad enough to have never tried chocolate chip cookies, straight from the oven. _

A smile stretched across her face. Joan adored baking. She had fond memories of baking with her own mother when she was a little girl. Judging by his reaction from  _ pancakes, _ Bart would adore chocolate chip cookies. He would probably adore making them, too.

Which reminded her, she still needed to go grocery shopping. She had gone early Friday morning, but it wouldn’t be enough now. Buying food for her and a retired speedster was one thing. Adding a young, active speedster to the mix was almost too much for her budget.

Barry had approached them on the first night concerning that very thing, after Bart had fallen asleep on the couch. 

“The league will handle his expenses,” he whispered, gesturing to Bart. “The only thing you’ll have to worry about is him.”

She could tell that Jay wanted to argue at first, but decided against it.

“Thank you, Barry.”

He smiled. “Just save your receipts for now, before we can come up with something better.”

She nodded. If she was being honest, she hadn’t thought about the financial impact that taking him in would cause until Barry had mentioned it. Regardless, it was a blessing.

“Joan?” Jay said, trying to get her attention. It was clear that this was not the first time he had tried to get her attention.

“Sorry,” she shook her head. “Lost in thought.”

“We were thinking about doing a puzzle later, what do you think?”

Joan smiled. “I think that would be a wonderful idea!” she said with a smile.

Bart gave her a toothy smile.

She smiled back at him. “Bart, would you like to go grocery shopping with me later?”

If possible, he grinned even wider. “Sounds crash!”

Bart didn’t know what groceries were, but if meant spending time with the Garricks, he wanted in.

After breakfast, he brushed his teeth and put on fresh clothes. The new clothes he had gotten yesterday fit him well. It was strange to wear something brand new. It was strange to own more than one outfit, but he managed. His clothes in the future were riddled with holes, threadbare and covered with ash. The clothes he had now were clean and bright. They fit him well. It was strange, but this new world seemed to suit him.

“Ready to go?” Joan asked when he left the bedroom.

He nodded, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.

Joan leaned down to kiss Jay, who was sitting in an armchair with a book in his lap.

“We’ll be back soon,” she said.

He smiled. “Have fun you two.”

“You’re not coming with us?” 

“No,” Jay said. “I’ll be going through those books I found yesterday.”

“Oh.” Bart said. Bart had assumed that Jay would be going with them. He hadn’t said anything about it, but it just made sense to him.

Sensing his disappointment, Jay stood up. “I’ll be right here when you get back, don’t worry.”

Bart hugged him tight. It reminded Jay of a child going off to kindergarten for the first time and not wanting to leave his parents.

Jay broke the hug and smiled at him, before ruffling his hair.

“See you later kiddo.”

His face broke into a childish grin.

“Be back in a flash!” He said with a mock salute.

Joan giggled before kissing Jay again.

“See you soon,” she said.

She and Bart walked to her little blue car and his grin turned into a pout.

“We’re driving?” He asked.

She chuckled. “I can’t exactly  _ run _ there, sweetheart.”

“Oh right,” he said with a dejected sigh.

She had to remind him to wear a seat belt. He tried to argue that being a speedster, he was  _ safer _ without one. Regardless of that truth, she reminded him that it was against the law to go without one, and she would have to pay a fine if he was caught without it.

He put on a seat belt.

It was a relatively short drive to the grocery store, but to Bart it seemed like an  _ eternity. _ It was so  _ slow, _ and he had to be strapped in, which brought back bad memories. Plus, he didn’t like sitting on Joan’s right side. Without her body language, it seemed to close off conversation some. With the seat belt, it made it difficult to turn his head enough to see her. Plus, she was focused on the road and couldn’t make eye contact anyway. 

He had rode in a car last night, when his grandfather and Wally had come back from the store. He had complained the whole time, and they had all joined him. Something told him that complaining wouldn’t make Joan do anything except laugh at him.

He frowned and tapped his foot on the floor of the car.

He heard Joan chuckle.

“What?” He asked, turning to face her.

“Sorry,” she said. “I know that riding in a car isn't as fun as running.”

He shrugged. “It's just  _ boring, _ ” he said. “And slow.”

She laughed, and they started talking to pass the time. He learned a lot about Joan during their conversation. It occurred to him that he had lived with them for three days now, and didn’t know much about them. He had heard stories about them, of course, but it wasn’t the same.

He learned that she and Jay had been married for seventy years, and they still lived in their first house. She said that they had always wanted kids, but were never able to have them.

“Until you,” she had said with a gleam in her eyes.

They also talked about the team. Joan was right, he was planning on joining the team as Impulse. She knew it was inevitable, but hearing him say it out loud made her stress levels rise significantly.

They also talked about school. He had admitted that he had been home schooled in the future, and had never been to a normal school before.

“What grade level were you at in your homeschooling before you left?” She had asked.

“I’m not sure, exactly,” he admitted shyly.

She figured as much. Considering all the things he had let slip about his time, there were probably many opportunities that were denied him. School it seemed, was one of them. They would need to work on that.

After what seemed like  _ forever _ to Bart _ ,  _ they arrived at the grocery store. It was different then the mall. The building itself was smaller, and everyone was pushing these… things.

They walked inside, and the doors opened on their own, making Bart jump. He hadn’t expected human technology to be able to do something like that. Not for a simple  _ store _ at least.

Except the store wasn’t simple. It was so different from the mall in so many ways. Seeing the aisles and aisles of  _ food _ towering over him on tall shelves was  _ insane.  _ This much food could feed  _ so many people _ . It was hard to get over his shock.

Joan just smiled at him and grabbed one of the wire things on wheels. He knew obtaining food wasn’t a struggle in this time, but was it really  _ that _ easy? He walked on Joan’s left side, and they talked some more as they got food off the shelves and put it in the cart.

Joan asked him about his family before he left his time. She was patient, and didn’t pry. He said that he had lived with his mom and dad. He didn’t say much, and she accepted that. He didn’t mention his brother. He couldn’t. He was still lost in thought when Joan stopped suddenly.

“Lori?” She said, directed at another shopper.

“Joan!” Lori said, before abandoning her cart to hug her.

“How’ve you been?” Joan asked when they broke apart.

“I’ve been good! How was your anniversary?”

“It was… eventful,” she admitted.

Bart squirmed, unsure how to act in this unfamiliar social situation. This woman was clearly a friend of Joan’s. They spoke for a few minutes, and seemed to forget that he was even there. Almost.

“Who’s this?” Lori asked, gesturing towards Bart.

“This is Bart!” Joan said with a smile, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Hi.” Bart said, waving at her awkwardly.

“Bart’s going to be staying with us from now on,” Joan said with a smile.

“Really?” Lori said with a smile. “How long have you been staying with them?” She asked.

“Like, 3 days now?” He said.

She leaned closer to him like she was going to tell him a secret.

“Has she tried to teach you how to knit yet?” She said in a loud whisper.

Joan laughed, and Bart smiled.

“That was the first night, actually.” He smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.

Lori laughed.

“He’s doing really well with it,” Joan remarked.

“That’s good!” She remarked. “What have you made so far?”

“I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m working on a washcloth.”

Lori seemed nice, if not a little overbearing. They stayed in the aisle and chatted for a few more minutes. Sometimes she asked him questions and he would answer politely, but for the most part they ignored him.

“We should all have dinner sometime, when you’re more settled in.” Lori said. “I would love to get to know you better, and I’m sure Mark would love to meet you too.”

He stuttered out a response, and the pair finally said goodbye.

“Sorry about that,” Joan said when Lori was out of earshot. “I know Lori can be a bit much sometimes. We don’t have to do dinner with them, if you don’t want to.” Joan seemed to sink into herself when she said that.

“No,” he said. “She was nice, I like her,” Bart said.

Joan brightened immediately.

On the long ride home, she talked about Lori and her husband, Mark. They were good friends of Jay and Joan, and they’d known each other for years. Bart sat and listened to the best of his ability. The ride felt a little quicker with Joan filling the space with her stories.

He was relieved when they finally arrived home. He loved Joan’s stories, but he hated being in a car. He hated being strapped in. He hated going slow. He hated not being able to  _ look _ at someone when he was talking to them, and although it had been just over an hour since they left, he missed Jay.

Jay met them outside to help them carry in groceries. Gramps was also there, though Bart didn’t know why. Bart got out of the car as quick as possible and hugged them both.

“What are you doing here?” Bart asked Gramps excitedly.

Barry just smirked and put his hand on Bart’s shoulder.

“I decided to sneak away from the lab a bit early today. Need some help with those?” he asked when he saw Joan struggling with the groceries.

He took two of the three bags she was carrying.

“I got this bag,” she said. “You three boys get the rest.”

“On it!” Bart said with a mock salute, grabbing as many bags as he could safely carry at once.

“Careful,” Jay said, also loading up on groceries. “You don’t want to drop any.”

“I got it!” Bart said with a grin as he brought his bags to the kitchen.

He went back to the car twice more before the car was completely unloaded. Then, he swiped an apple for payment. The apple was sweet, and juicy, and _ fresh _ . He had never tasted anything like it. He was distracted by sweet apple-y goodness, and flinched when Gramps put his hand on his shoulder. He hadn’t realized that his Grandfather was behind him. He was letting his guard down around these people, maybe too much.

“Sorry,” Gramps said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Joan gave him a weird look before smiling at them both.

“I have an idea, why don’t the two of you go for a run?”

Bart latched on to the idea in an instant.

“Can we, please?” He begged his grandfather.

Barry laughed when Bart gently pulled on his wrist and looked up at him with his big, pleading eyes.

“Sure, why not?” he said. “Just finish your apple and change into-”

Before he could finish his sentence, the apple core was in the trash can and Bart was gone, leaving a gust of wind in his wake.

“Is this what it's like talking to me?” Barry asked. He had done the same thing more often than he would like to admit.

“Pretty much,” Jay said with a wink.

Bart appeared again, this time wearing his Impulse suit.

“This is gonna be so crash!” he said brightly, hugging Barry tight.

Barry hugged him back, before releasing his suit from his ring and changing into his own suit. Bart grinned and hugged both Garricks, before speeding towards the door.

“Be back in a Flash!” he quipped before breezing away.

“I’m… gonna regret teaching him that one, aren’t I?” Barry sighed before running to join him.

Yesterday with Wally, Bart was holding back. _ Way  _ back. He knew Wally was upset about being outmatched so easily, and Bart didn’t want to pick at that wound any more than he had to.

But now? Bart didn’t have to slow down for Wally. He didn’t have to conserve food or energy. He didn’t have to be mindful of guards or Reach patrols. He didn’t have to slow down for  _ anything. _ And he didn’t.

He ran and ran and  _ ran. _ He ran through the whole city, past shopping malls and trees, past houses and cars, past people and mailboxes, and everything in between.

He loved it. He loved the wind on his face. He loved the sunlight bathing everything with a warm glow. He loved the fresh air. He loved it, loved it,  _ loved _ it. His legs pumped and burned underneath him, but they were strong and carried him far. He was getting tired and out of breath, but he ran. He pushed his legs to keep going, and going, and  _ going. _ He pushed himself to go faster. Faster than he ever had before. This was what he had been fighting for. This was the freedom that the collar took from him. This is what he needed to  _ keep _ fighting for. This was freedom and truth. This was what he was  _ meant _ to do.

The kid ran  _ fast, _ there was no denying that. Barry kept pace with him easily. And then he kept getting faster, and faster. There was a determined look in his eyes, and his entire face portrayed devilish glee. Barry ran alongside him, matching his speed and intensity.

And he was definitely  _ intense. _ When he agreed to go for a run, he didn’t expect to be going at near top speed. He was even getting winded. The little imp had a lot of untapped potential as a speedster. That he could see right away. Eventually, they stopped at the crest of a hill to catch their breath. Bart was definitely more winded than Barry was, but that didn’t mean that Barry wasn’t still panting.

“One day,” Barry panted, “you’re going to give me a run for my money.”

Bart beamed and Barry’s heart all but stopped.  _ This  _ was his real smile, and it was the physical embodiment of sunshine. He couldn’t help but smile back with the same fervor.

They stood at the crest of the hill, overlooking much of the city.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Barry said.

Bart, who was normally very talkative, fell silent. He just nodded in solemn agreement. It could have been the glare of the sun off of his goggles, but Barry swore he saw tears in his eyes.

Then, Bart gave an impish smile. Without a word, he let himself fall to the grass. He stretched his arms over his head, and began to roll down the hill.

He gave out a loud “Weeeeeeeeeeee!” as he descended, and Barry couldn’t help but laugh.

Following his lead, Barry rolled down the hill as well. When he reached the base of the hill, he found Bart, still lying in the grass. Barry settled down alongside him. Bart lifted his visor and looked at the sky, letting go of a content sigh.

“The sky is beautiful today, isn’t it?” he said.

Barry couldn’t help but agree. He plucked a few blades of grass and sprinkled them across Bart’s face.

In that moment, laughter possessed them, and they dissolved into giggles.

_ Yes, _ Barry thought. The sky  _ was _ beautiful. More beautiful though, was this innocent child who had somehow arrived at the threshold of his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this chapter, especially the run that he and Barry go on.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joan and Jay have a talk. Cookies are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, darlings, I was busy.

Joan smirked as Barry ran out the door.

“So,” she asked. “Why did he really come over?”

Jay sighed, helping her unload the groceries.

“He wanted to talk about Bart, but he didn’t get the chance to last night.”

“What did he say?”

Jay sighed again. “A lot. He also came to check up on how he was adjusting.”

“The run will be good for both of them then,” she said, as she finished putting away groceries. “I know Bart was getting antsy. I’m honestly surprised he was able to stay still for as long as he did,” she said, starting a pot of coffee.

Jay chuckled. “I’m sure he had a good reason to,” he said leaning in for a kiss.

She returned it easily.

Once the coffee was done, Joan made two cups, ten sugars for Jay, and two sugars for her.

“So what did Barry say exactly?”

“He thinks that Bart’s hyperactivity is to cover up the fact that he’s scared, or at the very least, anxious.”

“He didn’t seem that hyperactive with me earlier,” she said.

“According to Barry, he was  _ very _ hyperactive yesterday. He almost talked their ears off at the mall.”

“Now that I think about it,” Joan mused. “He was very hyperactive yesterday before they left.”

“It could be that he was excited about going to the mall, but I trust Barry’s intuition. If he thinks it's because of anxiety, then I believe him.”

She trusted Barry too, and as she remembered something else that had happened just a few moments before, her stomach sank.

“Did you see?” she asked, hoping it had been her imagination, “when Barry touched him?”

“The way he flinched like he was about to be hit? Yeah, I saw it.”

“Have you noticed when he hugs you? He’s so thin, I can feel his ribs through his clothes. Speedsters are normally thin, but this is more than that, I can tell.”

Jay’s face was stunned. He hadn’t noticed.

“Next time he hugs you…”

Jay nodded. He would need to pay more attention to that.

“There’s also the thing with the pancakes.” he said.

“I was thinking of baking chocolate chip cookies with him later. It might be his first time trying them, and he took to knitting so fast…”

“There’s something else too. Yesterday, when Bart was unpacking his room, Barry came in to check on him and found him crying by himself.”

“Does he know why?”

“He thinks he was just homesick, or at least overwhelmed. A lot has happened in three days.”

“That’s true.” Joan said. “Who knows what he left behind?”

“He probably had a family and friends, or at least I sincerely hope so. I doubt he was  _ alone. _ ”

“No,” Joan said, repulsing at the idea. “I don’t think he was alone, there must have been  _ someone. _ He couldn’t have been alone.”

Jay could tell that the mere thought was distressing to her, so he reached across the table to hold her hand. She was silent for a moment, an even more distressing thought crossing her mind. 

“Do you think,” she hesitated. “Do you think he meant to get trapped in this time?”

“I think…” Jay started, “I think Barry was supposed to die on our anniversary. Besides that, I suppose time will tell.”

“There was another thing too,” Joan said, remembering their conversation from earlier. “When we were talking in the car, he said that he wasn’t sure what grade he was in. It’s true that the school system could have changed significantly in the decades since now but still.”

“If he’s gonna be staying with us for a while, we should look into getting him enrolled in school. If he doesn’t know what grade he’s in we should have him take a few tests to see where he’s at. Then, maybe we can get him in a school with people his own age.”

“How old is he exactly?” Joan wondered aloud. “He seems too young to be a teenager, but at the same time..”

“Twelve?” Jay guessed. “Thirteen? I wouldn’t put him past fourteen, he still seems very young.”

“We should ask when they get back. I think you're right, he can’t be more than fourteen. That would put him in…”

She paled, and so did Jay.

“Is he in high school?” he asked.

“He’s so  _ young _ ,” Joan said. “He can’t be a highschooler yet, I don’t believe it.”

“No, I don’t think he would be. Maybe middle school?”

“Maybe?”

There was a pause as they sipped their coffees.

“How do we even register him for school? He doesn’t technically  _ exist. _ He doesn’t even have any documentation. How do we explain that?”

“I’m sure Barry’s already on it. Even so, it will take some time to get him an established profile. We should hold off on getting him enrolled in school until then. Besides,” Jay said, “we should give him time to adjust to life here before putting something new on his plate.”

Joan sighed. “You’re right.”

“I’m sorry,” Jay said with a smirk. “Say that again?”

Joan rolled her eyes sarcastically. “You heard me,” she said smiling.

“Uh huh,” he said sipping his coffee.

It was silent again for a few minutes, and her mind started to wonder. She thought about Noah. They hadn’t had nearly enough time with him. They never got to enroll him in school. They never got to see his kindergarten graduation, let alone his high school graduation.

They might not get to see  _ Bart’s  _ high school graduation.

“Jay,” she said softly, barely daring to speak it. “What are we doing with this?” she asked. “I mean, Bart’s three times older than Noah was, but he’s still  _ young. _ And it's not like we’re getting any younger.”

“What do you mean?” Jay asked, prompting her to continue.

She squeezed his hands and sighed. “I mean, we’re in our nineties already. I would love to think that we have a lot of time left, but the reality of it is that we may not. We could have ten or twenty years, or we could have five or even two.”

“You’re not planning on leaving me, are you Joanie?” Jay said with a sad smile.

“Of course not!” she said. “I just, I think we should come up with a plan. If something were to happen to us. It’s not just the two of us anymore. I just want to make sure that he’ll be okay no matter what.”

“Of course,” Jay said. “We’ll make a plan. I’m sure that if it comes down to it, Barry and Iris would be willing to take him in.”

“If I die first-”

“Joan!” Jay interrupted.

“Jay,” she said sweetly. “You’re a speedster. Logically, I’ll be the one to die first.”

“Logically, I never want to live without you,” Jay said desperately.

She squeezed his hands and kept going. “-If I die first, I want you two to move in with them. I don’t like the idea of you two living in this house alone.”

“Joan-”

“Please,” she begged.

He sighed and nodded. “For you, and for Bart,” he smiled softly at her.    
“But don’t expect me to be too far behind.”

She smiled back, stood up, and kissed his cheek. “Good,” she said.

“There’s one more thing,” she said, pouring more coffee into their mugs.

And she thought of her baby again. Her sweet, sweet Noah.

Noah, who died before they even knew he was sick.

And then she thought of Bart, who was still so  _ small. _

Bart, who couldn’t get sick like Noah, but could still get hurt so, so easily, especially with the hobbies he was choosing.

Bart, who couldn’t even go to a normal doctor because of his speed.

“Honey?”

Jay could see in her face what she was thinking about.  _ Who _ she was thinking about.

“We should find Bart a doctor, one that knows speed.”

Jay nodded and stood up. He knew taking in Bart would bring back harsh memories for both of them. Luckily, he knew the perfect thing to help her.

“I mean, it's not like we can get him a normal pediatrician, but he should still get annual checkups-” Jay snuck behind her and gave her a neck rub, which she relaxed into. “-not to mention if he ever gets hurt. I know there are league facilities, but I’d like to have a specific person for non-emergencies.”

“I think Wally’s pediatrician was someone in STAR labs, and Barry mainly uses League resources. Heck, I think me and Wally might go to the same person. It’s not like there are many people out there who specialize in speedsters.”

That may have been the wrong thing to say, because he could feel her shoulders tense underneath his hands.

“Joanie,” he whispered. “He’ll be fine. He’s part of The Family now. There are going to be so many people looking out for him. It’s not like before, I promise.”

“I know,” she said, softly. “I know,”

But Jay knew better. Her shoulders were still too tense, and he could see the worry etched on every fiber of her being. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. Some of the worry melted off of her face and she smiled.

“You’re the best,” she said.

“Don’t I know it,” Jay said with a smile.

  
  


Bart smiled at the sky. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Looking at the sun, he finally understood why his mom called him sunshine. The sunlight brightened everything it touched, and filled the earth with light and life. In the future, the sun was covered by an impenetrable cloud of ash and smoak. The sunlight touched nothing, gave life to nothing. It was dark, and cruel in every way. She had to find her own sunshine.

He was a poor substitute.

“We should start heading back,” Gramps said, nudging his shoulder.

He groaned. “Five more minutes?” he begged.

“Five more minutes,” Barry said.

When five minutes passed, they were on their way back to the Garricks. He ran slower this time, savoring the wind on his face and the experience of running.

“We’re back!” he grinned, bursting through the door.

“We’re in the kitchen,” Joan called.

They both rushed to the kitchen to find the Garricks sitting at the table, with several stacks of sandwiches between them.

Bart grinned and hugged them both.

“How was your run?” Joan asked, pushing a plate of sandwiches towards him.

“I’ wa reay go,’” he said, devouring one of his sandwiches.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, sport,” Jay said, patting him on the back.

Bart tensed at the touch, but forced himself to relax.

“Sorry,” he said. “It was really good.”

“How’d he do?” Jay asked.

Barry smirked. “He’ll be faster than me one day,” he said, ruffling Bart’s hair.

Bart beamed. “Really? You think so?”

“One day,” Barry said. “Once we get you some more training, and you’ve grown up a bit. I’m sure you’ll be  _ very  _ fast.” He smiled and winked. “Don’t tell Wally,” he said, eating a sandwich.

Bart shoved several more sandwiches in his face and nodded in agreement. They all knew that Wally was self conscious about his speed, so it was better not to salt the wound.

“Sweetheart?” Joan asked. Watching him eat with such gusto had reminded her of her plan from earlier. “Have you ever baked before?”

“Baked?” He had never heard the word before. “No,” he said shyly.

“After you're done eating, why don’t we bake some cookies?”

“Really?” he said with excitement. “That would be so crash!”

“Of course, you’ll need to clean up from your run first,” she said. “I’m baking with Bart Allen, not Impulse.”

_ Oh, right. _ He had forgotten he was still wearing the suit.

A few minutes later, they said goodbye to Barry, and set out on their task.

Joan took down a big, weathered book and flipped to a yellowing page.

“Here,” she said, showing it off. “This is the recipe we’ll be using. I usually bake without it, but since it’s your first time, it’ll be good for you to see it.”

He looked it over, and saw it was instructions of what to do, only, he didn’t understand a lot of it.

“What do these mean?” He asked, pointing at the ingredient list. 

“That means cup, so we’ll need two cups of butter.”

“Okay,” he said, still confused. He walked over to the cabinet and got out a drinking glass. “Like this?”

Joan stifled a laugh. “No, sweetheart,” she made her way to a different cabinet, one that held most of her baking supplies. “Like this.” She held up a measuring cup.

“Oh,” he said dejectedly.

“It's alright honey,” she said. “I’ll show you.”

And so she did. She showed him the difference between baking measurements and normal kitchen utensils, and what all the abbreviations meant. She told him what to fetch and let him pour the ingredients into an electric mixer. She would laugh at him when he took raw cookie dough when he thought she wasn’t looking, and then take some herself. She chastised Jay when he did the same, but it was all in good fun. They ended up making a batch just to eat while the cookies were baking.

A few hours later, the kitchen table was filled with six dozen cookies, which were quickly being eaten by Bart and Jay. Joan had a few, but she could hardly compete with their speedster appetites.

Later still, they started on a puzzle in the living room. The coffee table was filled with little bits of cardboard that fit together to make a picture. Bart didn’t understand the concept of a puzzle, or what the appeal was, but the Garricks banned him from using his speed to complete it.

They had a quiet dinner together, something called “spaghetti and meatballs.” After dinner, they worked on the puzzle some more while they watched a movie. He liked the movie, it was something silly, but he liked it anyway. In the end, he sort of understood the appeal of the puzzle too. It was making a picture out of nonsense, and it was very satisfying to complete. It was almost like knitting, in a way.

  
At the end of the day, he decided that maybe, just maybe, he would be okay to sleep on the bed, and not on the floor. It was the  _ normal _ thing to do, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chocolate Chip cookie recipe because I am that extra:
> 
> 1 c. softened butter  
> 1 c. sugar  
> 1 c. brown sugar  
> 2 eggs  
> 1 tsp. vanilla  
> 1 tsp. baking soda  
> 1 tsp. salt  
> 3 c. four  
> A heckton of Chocolate chips, your choice of flavor  
> Mix and bake at 350 for 8 mins


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jay and Joan were parents before. They get to be again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a long time and I'm sorry lol

The first time they brought a child home, there was so much joy. Joan was over the moon. They painted his room bright colors, perfect for a four year old boy. They bought toy trucks and tiny clothes, perfect for his tiny body. She and Jay were overjoyed as they started to build their family, just as they always wanted too. Everything was perfect.

By day seven, they had gone to the zoo. He was disappointed that they didn’t have dinosaurs, but he did love the elephants.

On day ten, they went to the paleontology museum. Noah liked that much better. They got him a stuffed brachiosaurus, who he named Chewy.

By day fourteen, they felt like they were getting a hang of parenting. They were getting to know him as a person. He was four, and loved dinosaurs, and space, and dinos in space. They fell in love with him. They would do anything and everything to protect him.

There were hiccups, of course. Jay and Joan had an argument about Jay being the Flash, and how it factored into their new lifestyle, plus, Noah was developing a cold. It wasn’t bad, but it  _ was  _ cause for concern. Nevertheless, things were looking up.

On day fifteen, Noah’s heart stopped. For a while after, it felt like time did too.

It was true that the smallest caskets were the heaviest. They buried him at Peak Point Cemetery on a cloudless, sunny day, surrounded by friends and family. Friends and family who had met him once, if at all. He was holding Chewy when they sent him off for the last time.

After that, they closed off their hearts to the possibility of loving another child again. They say that grief is just love with nowhere to go. Jay found this to be especially true. In the short time that they knew Noah, he had stolen their hearts and made them rethink everything they wanted in life.

Jay had lost his son. For a while after, he felt like he had lost his wife, too. Joan was fragile. They both were, but Joan was especially heartbroken. For months afterwards, she hardly ate. She hardly spoke. When she did speak, they argued. The littlest thing could make her snap. Jay felt like he was living with two ghosts, not that he was doing much better.

Noah’s brightly colored room was shut for months, until a group of their friends painted it and cleared everything away, until it was nothing more than an empty room. Joan was furious. Jay was the one who lent them the key.

It didn’t stay dismal forever, although there were times when it felt that it would. They went to grief counseling, and to marriage counseling. Things slowly got better. Joan ate more. Jay stopped throwing himself at every JSA mission under the sun. They found a new normal.

Years passed, but Joan was still moved to tears at the mention of Noah.

They may not have been able to have kids, but the Garricks found their own family anyways. They were blessed to have Barry and Iris, and Rudy and Mary. They loved hosting family dinners and being surrounded by a happy light. They loved sharing their history, and everything they had been though.

They were going through photo albums and chatting when it happened.

Mary smiled and cooed. “Aw, who's this little guy?” she said, pointing to a picture.

It was a picture of Noah, when they went to the paleontology museum. He was clutching Chewy, the same Chewy he was buried with. He was so  _ young. _

Joan felt her lower lip quiver and her eyes begin to water.

Jay reacted instinctively, shutting the photo album and hugging Joan as she buried her face in his chest to cry.

He pet her hair and tried his best to soothe her.

“I’m sorry,” he said, directed at the West-Allen family, “but I think it would be best if you left for the night.”

The next day, he sent Joan to poker night alone, so he could invite the others back to explain without upsetting her further.

He sat them down and told them about their baby boy, who loved dinosaurs, and space, and dinosaurs in space.

Their baby boy, who died too soon, and left a hole in his place

The West-Allens went silent. They didn’t ask about Noah again.

The second time they brought a child home, there was uncertainty and hope. The empty room was filled again, and there was so much more energy to be found. Bart brought this  _ light _ with him wherever he went. There was suddenly more joy, but there was something else too. There was fear.

Jay and Joan were no longer a naive, young couple. They knew it could go horribly wrong in an instant. They were cautious. They were careful. They watched for signs of trouble. They planned.

On the first day, Bart was excited, but there was a fear hidden behind his new eyes. He tensed at sudden touches. Joan and Jay just smiled and took it in stride. They offered up their home to him, and watched some of the fear melt from his eyes. He began to trust them. He felt safe enough to fall asleep on the couch, which they counted as a big win.

They had all eaten their fill of pizza, and had moved to the living room to chat. As the night wore on, Bart began to be quieter and quieter, and he engaged in conversation less and less. When conversation moved towards him again, he stopped responding altogether.

“Bart?” Jay called quietly. Jay turned to see Bart curled up on the sofa, his eyes loosely closed, and his breathing soft and steady.

“Is’t he darling?” Joan whispered.

“He is pretty cute, isn’t he?” Iris smiled.

“When he’s not running around causing havoc, I guess,” Wally said with a shrug.

Joan thought he looked so young curled up like that, and so innocent too.

Barry smiled to himself. “He’s had a long day, we should let him rest.”

Joan got up slowly, trying not to disturb him. She grabbed the blanket draped over the back of the couch and covered Bart with it. His eyes fluttered slightly, but he snuggled close to it.

On day three, they baked enough cookies to feed a small army. Then, they did a puzzle.

On day five, They went to the zoo. Bart had admitted the day before that, although he had heard of them, he had never seen an elephant in person.

“Oh no!” Joan gasped. “Did they go extinct? I love elephants.”

Bart looked at the floor and shrugged. “A lot of animals went extinct by the time I was born,” he said sadly.

When they got there, Bart was in awe of all the animals. He read the description tags aloud, and searched for all of the animals.

Listening to him read the tags aloud was shocking, in many ways. Bart read very slowly, and he stumbled over words frequently. He got visibly frustrated when it was difficult for him. As the day went on, he stopped reading the tags out loud. It was concerning, and it especially wasn’t what they expected for a thirteen year old speedster.

They could tell he was flustered and embarrassed, though, and decided not to acknowledge the problem just yet.

When they had seen all the animals (some of them twice), they decided to look at the gift shop before leaving. Bart seemed taken with a poster, showing an artistic portrait of one of the elephants. Despite his interest, he moved to put it back on the shelf, before Jay spoke up from behind him.

“Why don’t we get that for your room?” he said, ignoring how high Bart jumped when he talked suddenly. “It might give your room a little more personality, I know it's pretty plain right now.”

Bart smiled and nodded, but there was uncertainty in his eyes.

“Look!” Joan said from across the gift shop. “Puzzles!” 

  
  


On day ten, they took him to the paleontology museum. He was again in awe of the giant skeletons, asking as many questions as he could muster without dipping into superspeed.

Again, he seemed to struggle with reading the tags and descriptions on various exhibits. The Garricks knew it was time to ask him about it, but they mutually decided it was a discussion best left for home.

When they did get home, they were unsure how to proceed. How do you ask a child you barely know about their reading ability? How do you even bring it up? It could be a reading disability, like dyslexia, or it could be something else. Bart did say that he didn’t know what grade he was in, which is an unsettling concept in itself.

They decided to approach the topic when they were working on a puzzle together after dinner. It was a giraffe, surrounded by a blue sky. It was the puzzle they had gotten from the zoo only days before. They had almost gotten all the sky pieces sorted out when Joan got the courage to ask.

“Bart, sweetie?”

“Hm?” he said, searching for another sky piece.

“Do you mind if we asked you a personal question?”

This caught his attention, and he stiffened, but looked up curiously.

“We noticed,” Jay said, cautiously, “That you had trouble reading, at the zoo and again this morning at the museum.”

Bart looked down at the ground in shame. The Reach had taken over everything in his time. There were no schools, and almost no books. The only reason he knew how to read at all was because his mother had spent night upon night painstakingly drawing letters and words in the dirt, reading them aloud and nudging his brother and him to do the same. She told them it was important, even though they couldn’t understand why.

When he finally escaped the Reach, he did what he had to do to survive. He didn’t search for books, but he found some anyway. When he did find them, they were difficult to understand. He knew how to sound out words, but he couldn’t find any meaning to what they meant. Even now, he struggled. Reading was never a top priority for him.

But now, under the Garricks watchful stare, he shrunk.

“Sweetheart, there's nothing to be ashamed of.” Joan said sadly. “We just...if we can figure out why and how you struggle, we can help, if you’d like.”

Bart shrugged and kept his eyes trained on the puzzle before him.

“I don’t- I don’t need help with that,” he said softly.

“Bart,” Jay tried, soothingly. “Lots of people struggle with things like this. It’s not a big deal.”

“I know,” he said, hugging himself. “I just, I don’t need help.”

“If you ever change your mind,” Joan said.

Bart nodded, but he wasn’t a  _ child. _ He knew how to  _ read _ . It was just… hard.

At day thirteen, everything was going well. They were getting into a sort of routine. They get up and eat breakfast together, and then they either did something outside of the house, or they stayed inside. Bart often divided his time between his family and the team. On day four, he spent the day with the team, meeting (most) everyone officially, and giving up his suit so copies could be made. Since then, he had spent many hours at the mountain training, or just hanging out with his new friends. He spent time training with his grandfather too, and Wally, once or twice, when he could be convinced.

On day fourteen, Joan got worried. Everything had gone so well with Noah too, and then it was ripped away all too soon. She would not let it happen again. But she did nothing to stop him when he ran off to hang out with Wally for a few hours. She knew he would be safe with him, that nothing would happen. She knew he would be fine, that he wasn’t Noah. Still, watching him run out the door with that big grin on his face made her nervous.

But it was fine! Everything was normal, and everything was okay.

Jay could see on his wife’s face that everything was  _ not _ okay. But, he also knew it would be worse tomorrow. Tomorrow would mark the fifteenth day since they had taken Bart into their home. Noah had died on day fifteen, and there was nothing they could have done to prevent it. This time would be different. Bart would be okay.

Jay wrapped his arms around Joan’s slumped shoulders and held her close.

“Tomorrow, why don’t we watch some movies? We could make as much popcorn as we can handle, cuddle,” He rubbed her shoulders and felt them relax under his fingers. “I think Bart would like that, don’t you?”

And so they did. Joan, Jay, and Bart spent the day watching movie after movie, with a constant stream of popcorn in between them. This was not the first time they had watched a movie with Bart, so they knew that he was quite the cuddler. He also had a tendency to talk during movies, but they didn’t mind. They knew how much he needed the attention, and the human contact. He didn’t know that they knew, but at least once a night he would creep out of bed just to check that they were still there. They didn’t mind, but they were worried about him.

As time wore on, more people joined their movie marathon. Barry and Iris showed up after work to help with family dinner (which they completely forgot about) and got sucked in. Wally too, joined them, although it was clearly just a way to procrastinate writing an essay that was due at midnight.

As Treasure Planet started, Jay and Joan snuggled Bart close. No, Bart was not Noah. He would still be here on day 16, and on days 20, 50, and on day 100. And so would they.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of this chapter (and a few other scenes) were inspired by The Mentor With the Junk Food by ElfGrove its lit, check it out.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bart waits for the inevitable.

Bart stared at the ceiling of his room; he couldn’t sleep. Sometimes when he couldn’t sleep during the night, or got lonely, he would peak into the Garricks’ room. He knew it was stupid, and they would always still be there by morning,, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He bit his lip, and got up, making his way to the door, but he stopped with his hand on the doorknob.

_ What was he doing? _

It was 2AM, and he’d already peaked into their room already. He didn’t want to risk waking them up. Besides, it wouldn’t change anything. Artemis was going to “die” tomorrow night, and there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it. She needed to be with Black Manta and Kaldur to help him prevent the apocalypse. 

Sighing, he flopped onto his bed. His pillow and blanket lay on a pile on his floor, where he normally slept. After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, he lied down on the floor, and finally succumbed to a fitful night's sleep.

The next day, he woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking. He sat up and looked at his alarm clock, which was sitting on his bedside table.

_ 7:55 _ . Five minutes before his alarm would sound. He didn’t technically  _ need _ to get up at eight every day, but after the first week, the Garricks had insisted on starting him on a routine, which meant getting up at eight and getting to bed at ten. It was Saturday, so the rules were more relaxed, but he preferred to keep to their schedule anyway.

He stood up from the floor and stretched before making his bed.

_ 7:56, _ the clock read. He turned off the alarm before it could sound and headed out the door to the kitchen.

“Morning, sweetheart!” Joan said with a smile. “How’d you sleep?”

Bart shrugged and yawned. He didn't get a lot of sleep, but he never really did.

“That bad huh?” Jay said, sarcastically.

Bart shrugged again before hugging them both.

“Good morning,” he said lazily.

Jay chuckled, returning the hug.

Bart sat down and dug into his breakfast as the Garricks made small talk with him.

"Any plans today?" Jay asked.

In the three weeks he'd been there, he had started to make some friends. Gar had invited him to the cave several times to play video games after he had finished his school work for the day. Besides that, he had joined the team officially. He hadn't gone on his first mission yet, but he had joined in on several training sessions. There was usually one today, but it was cancelled because of the mission. Not that it mattered. He wanted to stay as far away from the team as possible in the next few days.

"I think Gramps wanted to do a training session, but other than that I don't have anything,” he said after a minute.

Joan smiled and shook her head. "One of these days you should stop calling him that."

Bart shrugged. "Yeah, but he's my  _ grandpa. _ I'd be weird for me to call him anything else," he said, shoving a piece of French toast in his mouth.

"Sweetheart, I think we've gone way beyond weird."

"Besides," Jay said, cutting in. "He told me once that he'd prefer to be called 'Pops.'"

Bart considered it for a moment before shaking his head. "No, Pops doesn't fit him. I think Gramps suits him better."

Jay rolled his eyes with a smile "Either way, it may be time to start calling him Barry."

"Nope!" Bart said with a grin, shoving bacon in his mouth.

They both shook their heads disapprovingly but smiled at his antics.

The rest of the day passed fairly quickly. He had his training session with Gramps, which ended up being  _ super  _ crash. After that, he ended up hanging out at the Garricks house. Jay taught Bart how to play poker. He had a poker night at a friends house every week, and had been wanting to bring Bart along at least once. At first it was just the two of them, until they wrangled Joan into playing with them.

"She's actually a better player than me," Jay said in a loud whisper. "But don't tell her I said that."

He winked, and Bart laughed.

"I could hear that," Joan said from the other side of the table.

"Hear what, darling?"

"Raise five," she said triumphantly, tossing her chips in the pile.

"Dang it," Jay said, tossing more chips in.

"That's what you get for whispering," Joan said with a mischievous grin.

She won that round, as well as several rounds after that.

Iris and Barry stopped in later, after several begging texts from Bart. Wally came by to play too, anxiety for Artemis plain on his face.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Iris tried to soothe during one hand.

She would not be fine, as far as Iris was to know.

The news was on. Bart watched it, and his mouth, to make sure no one suspected anything was about to happen. He could feel Wally’s eyes staring at him when no one else was looking. Once, they locked eyes and Bart knew the jig was up.

When they were done playing poker, the others left. Wally didn’t acknowledge their shared secret until the next day.

He didn’t hear any news about Artemis until the next day, early in the morning. He woke up at around 6am, unable to sleep again. He could hear the Garricks moving around and talking in hushed tones through the wall, so Bart decided to get up. He knew the news he would be walking into, but decided to get it over with, rather than dragging it on.

“You're up early,” Jay said upon seeing him.

Bart shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep,” he said truthfully.

The Garricks both sat quietly at the table, their coffee cups untouched.

“Sweetheart,” Joan said. “Sit down for a moment.”

Bart sat and braced himself for what was coming.

When he sat down, they hesitated for a moment, trying to decide with just their eyes who would break the news to him. Jay spoke first.

“Artemis... passed away last night, during the mission.”

Bart folded his hands in his lap and stared at them. He had been acquainted with death for a long, long time, but he had no idea how to act in this situation. He tried to imagine that she was actually gone. What would he say? He had only met her a few times in the almost-month he had been here. Still, he imagined he would be upset.

“The funeral is tomorrow, they decided to fast track it in order to give her a natural burial,” Joan said.

Funeral? “Natural” burial? He had never been to a funeral before. Some small part of him was excited to go to one. It helped that he knew she wasn’t actually dead. 

He had seen countless people die during the apocalypse. None of them had ever been given a proper burial, or a funeral. There were no kind words spoken or tears shed over the fallen. People died all the time. The Reach gave as much respect to the dead as they did to the living, which, of course, was none.

“What's a natural burial?” he asked.

“It’s-” Joan pursed her lips. “Usually when someone is buried in a cemetery, they embalm the body, it's a way of preserving it so that the funeral service can be pushed back, in order to transport the person, if needed, and prepare for a funeral. Artemis’s family decided for a natural burial, meaning that they won't be embalming her. Instead, they’re burning her very quickly.”

_ They can’t embalm a body that doesn’t exist, _ he thought to himself.  _ “Burying” her quickly would make it easier to hide the fact that she isn’t really dead. _

He wanted to know how long it usually takes after someone dies for a funeral, but the sad look in their eyes made him decide otherwise.

“I’ve… never been to a funeral before,” he admitted after a moment of silence.

“They’re…. They’re not very fun to go to,” Jay admitted. “But they are important. It’s kind of hard to explain when you’ve never been to one before, but I suppose you’ll find out tomorrow. ”

After a moment, Joan stood up.

“I should get started on breakfast,” she said. “How do eggs sound?”

Bart gave a smile. “Eggs sound good. Need any help?”

“If you’d like!” she said with a small, sad smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its been a hot minute guys, but here it is. It's a little short but who cares? Just a warning, this fic will be updating slower than usual (Not as slow as this update has been, but still a little slow) just so I can create a buffer in chapters. Also, at some point in the next year, I'll be leaving for a year and a half without a computer so I'm trying to make it so that while I'm gone, my friend can still update the chapters that I've pre-written. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
